Ranma Writes a Journal
by JDHGamer
Summary: The journal discovered by Nabiki and things start getting intense for Ranma and Akane.
1. Entry 1

Author's Intro: This story is solely for entertainment purposes, and the characters are not necessarily meant to reflect their counterparts in the series. The characters evolve beyond where they are in the series, and they sometimes evolve in odd and unpredictable ways. Of course, some characters just wont evolve (mainly Akane and Ranma's parents). So let me also note a disturbing discovery I made: a fan fiction that also seemed to feature a journal written by Ranma. I just want everyone to know that I started writing this whole thing while I didn't have any internet access to be aware of that fic, and not that I suspect it's all that major a fic, because it only has two chapters right now. This fic is entirely different, and offers the story from various perspectives, including the journal entries that tell the majority of the story, and the occasional third-person scene, a few of which I plan to add to what I already have hand-written because I feel these are big character moments that deserve dialog.  
  
Now allow me to make a better summary of the story than the short one attached to the story: Ranma is nearing graduation, as is Akane, and the pressure is on for him to choose one of his fiancés. Dr. Tofu, seeing Ranma's stress, asks him to start keeping a journal to sort out his thoughts. Ranma reluctantly does so, but forgets that certain people have snooping tendencies *cough*Nabiki!*cough*. Soon his father and Akane's father know about what he wrote, and then things really start to get interesting.  
  
Ver: 2.0  
  
The Update: A small addition regarding Akane's bad cooking.  
  
May 22nd, 2003: I can't believe I'm doing this, gotta remember, journal, not diary, journal, not diary, this isn't girlish, this is a journal. Dr. Tofu insisted on it, and pointed out that very fact, girls write in diaries, guys keep journals. If journals weren't masculine, there'd be no reason for the term: diary to exist because no distinction would have to be made between the sexes. Anyway, I'm supposed to talk about my fiancés, and how that's stressing me out, or perhaps which one I'd choose if I were forced to choose-another one of Dr. Tofu's "suggestions".  
  
Shampoo: I'll start with her, she's the most dangerous, and the one I least know, really. I mean, aside from the fact that she's cute, likes to cuddle, is Chinese and part of some Amazon tribe, I don't really know that much. And oh yeah, her tribe has these rules about marrying guys who defeat them and killing girls that defeat them. That's how all this happened, and my main problem is if I don't chose her, someone's probably going to die and I bet it will be the person I choose instead of her. Next to Aka-no, I'm going to focus on Shampoo herself. She's probably the one I wouldn't choose, all things considered, but she's also the most dangerous person not to marry.  
  
Ukyo: I'd marry her, but I don't think of our relationship as one of "love" at all, just friendship, and I have this funny way of not being able to imagine having anything more than that. I do care for her welfare, I'd be sad if she died, heck I'd cry even, just not in front of anybody. I'd make sure the door was locked, and that the walls were sound-proof enough, but that's just a hypothetical situation that probably wouldn't happen unless I actually tried to marry her and Shampoo killed her. Now I'm talking about Shampoo again, focus-FOCUS! Ukyo can cook, unlike A-some people I know, who CAN'T! Okay, it's obvious to me what I'm talking about, and this journal doesn't have a mind to be deceived with. Anyway, Ukyo is another no-go I suppose.  
  
Akane: Now I know, I'm just going to wait until my screwed up threads of fate send me another fiancé, maybe somebody I can actually LOVE this time, because none of my prospects look any good! Akane is the last person I'd want to be sleeping in the same bed with for one thing. Okay, okay, I remember now there have been a few times when I've proudly exclaimed "She's MY fiancé!", I never did that with the others. If the purpose of this whole journal-thing is to dig deeper into my feelings, I need to figure out why the hell I even said stuff like that.  
  
Sometimes I wish she were my only fiancé, I mean, she was my first, and those were indeed simpler times, how I loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg for them. Sorry, had to emphasize the sarcasm, this is, after all, only written on paper. So Akane, she really does look cute when she smiles, I just used the truth that one time to throw her off her guard, I guess I just like to tease her. Obviously, it pushes her away, because she has absolutely no sense of humor. Yeah, I'd really like to get to know her, the side of her I've only really heard about and maybe seen once or twice. I know I saw it way back two years ago during that brief time she thought I was a girl. I don't know how to see that side of her, should I just go up to her and ask "Hey, you've been really mean to me these past two years, and maybe I haven't been all that nice to you either, but I'd really, really like to see your nice side. Yeah, I know you have one, I remember it from…"  
  
Great, I'm coming up with ways to start conversations that I'll probably never have the guts to initiate…wait a second, not have the guts? Okay, maybe I'm judging myself too harshly, of course I've got guts, just not so much socially. But what am I afraid of? The obvious, she's going to think I've gone crazy, she's not going to be a whole "lets start being friends" bit, even if it's actually sincere, that's not the way she knows me to be like. She's too used to the "Jerk! Pervert! BAKA!" Ranma, like I'm so used to the uncute tomboy Akane. If she went to ME with the same bit that I just came up with, I wouldn't believe her either.  
  
In any case, I think she has some kind of feelings for me, I mean, I obviously have something for her, otherwise I wouldn't be going on so much longer about her than the other fiancés. She's been apparently jealous of the other fiancés and people who try to pursue me romantically, or maybe she just doesn't think I deserve to have a woman or something. Nah, I doubt that, I'm pretty sure it's some kind of jealousy, or maybe just something I haven't thought about yet.   
  
I guess perhaps the main reason we wont even start being in any way friendly to each other is perhaps our parents, the whole arranged marriage thing. Perhaps we're afraid that if we stop fighting each other constantly for one minute that our parents might pop in and say "Good! You're finally getting along! The wedding will be tomorrow, then!". Or maybe we just feel like our parents are trying to control us and that we shouldn't like each other because that would mean our parents have won or something. It could be a combination of those two things even, I suppose. I'm pretty sure it's not neither.  
  
So, I guess my optimal situation if I were to be forced somehow to marry her would be to delay the wedding for at least a couple months. Then there'd have to be an agreement that during the days up until the wedding we'd have to get along, and not fight at all. There might be also a point at which we could cancel the wedding, but it would have to be after a certain amount of time, so we couldn't just think we could never get to know each other, and just pull out early. Then of course, the other fiancés and people pursuing me, and in fact Akane as well, would have to be taken care of, no easy task, but it might be possible.  
  
Then there is, of course, her cooking, which would have to be somehow improved, if that's even possible. I'd probably have to talk Ukyo into it, if anyone can teach a girl as hopeless as Akane to cook, it would have to be her.  
  
So there's the question of this entry: Who would I choose if I were forced to marry one of the three? At the beginning of this entry, I wouldn't have known, and I certainly wouldn't have even thought of deciding on who I'm deciding on, but considering the whole plan I mapped out, that is something I didn't even attempt with the others, I'd chose Akane-just because I have this plan. Haha! I know that's ridiculous, but we're talking about a hypothetical situation that for all accounts and purposes, I don't think is going to happen. So I think to hell with it! Pick Akane because she's the only one you went for far as to make a plan for! A great way of trying to answer an otherwise impossible question, who cares if it's just an easy way out?  
  
Well, I think I might not write anything else until I think of something else to discuss, which may be a few years, I don't know.  
  
Author's conclusion: Well, the next chapter is going to have a third-person even in it, likely, one previously unwritten. In fact, this entire entry has been re-written because I think I had Ranma go on too long about things, and considering that I wrote it early on, I think I was just experimenting with trying to establish Ranma's thought processes. Well, I think I'll start working on the second chapter right away, since I'm kinda on a roll here. 


	2. Entry 2

Author's Intro: So here we go already with a second chapter, this one will have a brand new 3rd-person section in it. I also skipped an entry I wrote because I condensed the first entry while expanding it to fully explore the Akane-factor.  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: None, this chapter seems to be perfect.  
  
May 26th, 2003: I HATE NABIKI! How's that for emotional insight?! I think she saw me writing in it, and decided to not just take a peek at it, but to scan it into her computer and start printing out copies for everyone to read! The moment I found out I made sure that Nabiki hadn't distributed anything to any of my fiancés or any people they might know that could share the entry with them. Nabiki said she only got a chance to get it to people in the house, and then I swore I'd kill her, or at least cause some pain or injury to her if she distributed any more copies. Then she complained about all the printer paper she wasted and I gave her some money as "compensation". So apparently everyone in the house knows, and definitely my dad and Soun. They've already set a wedding date exactly 2 months from now! Now Akane is apparently missing, and according to Nabiki she also has a copy. So now I have to go to the mall and buy a box with a padlock or something to put this journal in. I hope Nabiki isn't skilled at picking locks or anything-I'll hide it somewhere just to be sure. But first, Soun and my old man have insisted on me going out to look for the little tomboy. Why must this happen to me?!  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Ranma obviously doesn't no the first thing about journals. You're supposed to AT LEAST keep them in a safe place! Of course, I keep you locked and hidden where I'm certain Nabiki will never find you. But now I have a dilemma, my father and Ranma's have also seen the journal entry. Oh, I'm sorry, I only explained about Ranma not being about to hide his. Nabiki found it and, of course, started making copies and giving them out to us. She seems to take joy out of snooping into other people's business and then sharing that business with the world. If she ever gets a job, it's probably going to be some kind of spy work or something. Anyway, my Dad and Ranma's, as I was saying before, got their own copies like I did, and have considered my engagement to Ranma to now be official. That's a bunch of bologna because from what I read Ranma wasn't even all that serious about his whole "plan" to marry me. And by plan, I mean literally, a plan, and thankfully they are sticking with that plan, although so far I haven't heard word about which day me and Ranma can call it off. They're probably going to conveniently skip that part.  
  
So I'm here, in the park, next to a fountain, it's a beautiful day at least. I've gone out for a little air and to collect my thoughts, something that you are always helpful for. Still, I haven't even begun to figure this out yet. I've just been talking about what's been happening, really. How do I feel about this? Well, the past two years that I've known Ranma there have been only rare instances where he wasn't being a jerk, most of the time he has been. And maybe he isn't that perverted, likely he's just a victim of circumstance, and I've probably seen that all along without ever admitting it. He also seemed to have a plan, and at that something he didn't try with the others, he said it himself in the entry. There's something about me that made him want to figure out a way to make things work between us, even though he didn't take it so seriously, it's just one of those annoying things that makes me hate most of the guys out there. I think Ranma's different for them, for one he doesn't go leaping on me, or trying to get my affections, it's just the way he goes about doing that, or rather, not doing it, that irritates me. He acts like he has no interest in me whatsoever, and hell I'm being hypocritical because I've been doing the same thing to him.  
  
Well, wait…is that Ranma? How'd he think to look here? I'll write more tomorrow, I think I need a break anyway.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
"Kasumi told me you might be here." Ranma said.  
  
"I didn't really think you'd know that much without someone telling you." Akane replied, a little nervous.  
  
"So you have a diary. How do you keep Nabiki from doing what she just did to me?"  
  
"Simple, I have a lock on it, see?"  
  
She showed him the lock on the side of the book.  
  
"And I'm very good at hiding it."  
  
"Perhaps you could hide mine for me, I plan on getting some kind of way to lock it up, but Nabiki probably has some paperclips for such an occasion."  
  
"Aren't you afraid I'd go through it myself?"  
  
"I don't think you'd want to go through the trouble of learning how to pick locks. Besides, we need to start trusting each other, I guess…"  
  
"So what, are we going along with this whole thing?"  
  
"I'm going to try and push the wedding day back another month and establish a point where we can call it off if necessary."  
  
"That definitely sounds like a good idea, I'd say go for even longer but you'd probably be pressing your luck."  
  
"Yeah, they'd probably make it sooner if they thought I was pushing too hard."  
  
"So are we going to do that whole agreement thing, no fights? Being civil to each other for once?"  
  
"I didn't think you'd be this up to it."  
  
"I didn't think you'd come up with something like this in the first place."  
  
"I didn't think I'd have to use it at all. It was just a hypothetical situation, and now that it's happening it's scary as hell."  
  
"We're going to have to tell the others."  
  
"I think Ukyo would take it well enough, but Shampoo, and Ryouga…I've been trying to tell you he's P-Chan for the longest time, that's a little more honesty for you."  
  
"I…didn't…know…are you kidding me?!"  
  
"No, I'm not."  
  
Akane could see he was telling the truth.  
  
"Great, now something else to worry about emotionally, there's you, graduation, and now Ryouga!"  
  
"And the dance this weekend, I have a feeling our parents will be expecting us to go together, and you're going to have to buy a dress, definitely."  
  
"So we're just going straight into the dating part?"  
  
"We've already known each other for two years, and here's another rule: No sex, no making out, or at least nothing you aren't comfortable with, which I think I can safely assume is a long list of things."  
  
"Wow, you know me a little better than I thought you did!"  
  
"Hey, I've thoroughly memorized all your faults, I'm just having trouble with your better traits, that's all. And I do know you have some, I've just acted like I haven't all this time."  
  
"Well, at least we're off to a good start."  
  
With that, they started walking home, and Ranma stayed on the ground for once, instead of walking on the fence.  
  
Author's Conclusion: There you have it, a second chapter and all in one day. These are the benefits of pre-writing your material, my fellow fan fic authors! It allows one to plot out the, uh, plot and set up the storyline and character development for the story, then you can go crazy and do some more stuff, from revisions to just plain starting the chapters again from scratch using what you wrote as a basis.  
  
In the next chapter, Ranma and Akane go to the Mall to do some shopping, and Ranma starts to get in touch with his "feminine side", and that's all I'm going to say about that. 


	3. Entry 3

Author's Intro: Well, this chapter may span a couple days, simply because I kinda already said I was going to do the shopping thing in this chapter, and I might as well because I plan on typing it up today anyway. So now third-Person stuff is a regular thing rather than happening only occasionally in my written draft. It's just that I didn't really go that far until a certain event, and now I'm going back and turning everything I ever wanted to give dialog too into a third-person thing. So here ya go, we're going to resolve the other fiancés (or start to, anyway) and go shopping all in the same chapter. Make sure you are secured in the coaster, and please keep your hands and arms inside at all times.  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: A line regarding the "Pretty Womanhood" incident.  
  
  
  
May 28th, 2003: Well, we decided to tell Ukyo first, she didn't exactly burst into tears or anything, but she did look very shocked, that is, before she passed out. Then she woke up at Dr. Tofu's and she said she had the "oddest dream", then we told her it was true and she wanted to here the whole story. It wasn't as much anger as it was simple disbelief. Then Shampoo, apparently there was some kind of leak because she found out before we even got there. The good news was she was taking it quite well, I mean, for her. From what Mouse told us, she was locked in her room, crying her eyes out, in a very deep state of depression. I knew Shampoo would be the most unpredictable, and I now I'm glad I was more right about that than I thought. Ryouga knows now also, and threatened he'd kill me if I mistreated her at all, or broke the "deal" I had with her not to fight. Ryouga had apparently already asked Ukyo to the Senior Dance, which explains why Ukyo was perhaps a little more willing to move on once she believed it was even happening. We sent Ryouga out to deal with Kuno and his sister, along with some other people, and yeah Ryouga furiously apologized to Akane about the P-Chan thing, after she slapped him really hard, anyway. So I'd say it's been quite an eventful day, but more successful than I'd imagined it'd be. Tomorrow, I'll be going to the mall with Akane, and in girl-mode, to buy a her a dress for the Senior Dance, along with Nabiki and Kasumi who'll be helping out as "experts", since both of them had already graduated. Nabiki is also planning on getting her own, since alumni are also allowed to go to the dance, but I don't know who she's going with, and she wont tell me. Nabiki knows a lot of people who are still in the school, it could be one of them because she still has a vast network in the school even after having graduated. Actually, she's always there during lunch time, sharing gossip all the time with all the friends she still has in there. She must have some people she knows who let her in or something, I don't know. Well, enough trying to figure out Nabiki's network, I think I'll just this up for the day.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Today there is so much that happened, and I don't think I could cover all the specifics. Basically, almost everyone who would have a problem with the marriage, except for me, that is, has been dealt with. Currently, I am being sort of dealt with, I mean tomorrow we're going to the mall and stuff, then the day after that we're going to an amusement part, courtesy of our parents. There setting us up on a few dates before the actual dance, which surprise surprise they didn't know about but got really excited when we mentioned it. I've been also seeing Nabiki around school more lately, I think she's up to something. She graduated just last year, but she probably knows some people in the school who let her be in there during lunch time in order to keep her contacts. On the note that I've seen her around more, I mean, not just lunch time, she's been talking, and trying to be rather discrete about it, especially when myself or Ranma are around. I think she's plotting something, but I don't know what it is yet. Nabiki also plans to go to the dance, since she apparently has a date and Alumni are allowed to go. Kasumi only went once, and has never gone again, and doesn't really plan to, especially considering that she has too many chores to do every day. It makes me feel sorry for her really, but it's what she likes to do, or is at least used to doing, plus she doesn't really have any boyfriends, although Dr. Tofu would be the closest thing she has and it would be closer if he didn't go half-blind every time she came over. Anyway, things are looking pretty much up right now, it's just a bit weird and all, and by the way I've forgiven Ryouga, after punishing him, I mean.  
  
May 29th, 2003:  
  
"So this is a clothing store?" Ranma asked.  
  
"You've never been to one?!" Nabiki half asked, half exclaimed (as if you can't tell by the ?!).  
  
"Well, not a real one."  
  
"Didn't she…you know when she was…" Akane whispered to Nabiki.  
  
"I don't think he/she/whoever remembers…" Nabiki whispered back, then asked Ranma, "So what do you think?"  
  
"Lots of uh…clothes. Wow! That looks really cute! I wonder if it would fit on me?" Ranma said, pointing to some clothes.  
  
"Uh…that's a girl's shirt, Ranma." Nabiki pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, and that's the beauty of being able to transform into a girl!"  
  
"Since when has that been a 'beauteous' experience for you?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"Since just now. Oh look at that one!"  
  
"Great, my fiancé if about to become a cross-dresser!"  
  
"Technically, he's not-" Kasumi started to say.  
  
"Whatever, I guess his girl-half just turns out to be a clothing-freak."  
  
"This may yet prove the theory that a girl's obsession with clothing is, in fact, somehow a genetic trait." Nabiki said, "I should post this on one of the research web sites."  
  
"I think Akane is missing some genes, then." Ranma pointed out, returning with a pile of clothes, "Might explain why she's such a tomboy."  
  
"The deal, Ranma, the deal."  
  
"Don't take that as a provocation, mind you, just an observation."  
  
"Just because it isn't a provocation, doesn't mean it wont provoke me."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind."  
  
"Aren't we here to find a dress for Akane?" Kasumi noted.  
  
"Yeah, let's head over to where they are." Ranma said.  
  
"Now I wont even try on anything that's skimpy so don't attempt to pick something like that out for me." Akane told Ranma.  
  
"Hey, I wasn't planning on it, if it looks nice on you, I don't care how much or how little material it's made of," Ranma said, "How's that for being sensitive?"  
  
"Well, it's a good start. And don't try to hard, because that just isn't you. And if I'm going to like you, I think it should be for who you are or something deep like that."  
  
"Yeah, well I am perfectly capable of being sensitive and considerate of you, I've just been too busy fighting and teasing you all the time to get to it."  
  
"Uh, ladies, we're here." Nabiki said.  
  
"Wow! This might take a little time." Ranma said, looking at the long rack of dresses.  
  
"I'm not going to try on ALL of them, baka!"  
  
"Hey, the deal, the deal."  
  
"Don't take that as a provocation, it's just an observation."  
  
"I think you already know how you replied when I said that to you, so you just consider your own words, and I'll consider mine."  
  
"Well, let's start browsing now."  
  
So the browsing began, each girl went through the racks, picking out favorites, they all got together at the end and Akane picked her favorites from each group, including her own.  
  
Ranma didn't pick ANYTHING that was at all skimpy. In fact, a lot of them were so overly conservative that Akane was certain that Ranma was either making this into a joke, or assuming too much. It was most likely the former. Still, she liked a few of the ones Ranma picked out and chose those to take with her to the dressing rooms.  
  
Nabiki had a little more variety with her choices, and a few of them were choices for herself. Akane liked some, and a few of them were even a little skimpy, maybe she was just trying to prove Ranma wrong about her not picking something like that, but she was sure she liked them because there were skimpier ones she didn't pick for that very reason.  
  
Finally, there was Kasumi, who seemed to know the most about what Akane would like, and the majority of the thing that Akane picked were from Kasumi's selection. So, with a pile of potential dresses, Akane went into the dressing room.  
  
So started the third and final stage of the dress-choosing process, the look-in-the-mirror and critique circle. A few dresses she just had to look in the mirror in the dressing room to tell she didn't like the way they looked on her, but a few she kinda liked so she went out to show the others to get a thumbs-up or thumbs down. It was a really effective process, and Ranma did finally offer some honest comments, at least most of the time, there was an occasion joke or tease, but he always finished with what s/he actually thought, which was something she was thankful for.  
  
Finally, she only had four choices left. So she went out and in with each of the remaining selections, and Nabiki used her digital camera to take photos so that the "judges" could deliberate on each of them without having a change of clothes every time they want to see a particular one again.  
  
This HAD to be the most complicated and precise way of choosing a dress for the Senior Dance that Akane had ever been involved in. Nabiki's own first dress for the dance didn't have this organized a decision process. Still, she had to appreciate it since she really didn't have that much of a fashion-sense.  
  
At least they decided on one particular dress that happened to be Akane's favorite, and Ranma's too, apparently. It was sleeveless and only show the tiniest amount of cleavage. It was one of Kasumi's picks.  
  
As far as cost went, her father gave her WAY too much money, but Ranma didn't really mind because she didn't bring enough money to buy all the clothes she found. In the end, there was still enough money left to go to the Ice Cream Shop afterwards by demand of Ranma.  
  
Author's conclusion: The next chapter will include the journal entries for the 29th, and a guest entry as well. I might also include a third-person part about the amusement park trip. I plan on writing one or two "entries" per day, so keep looking here regularly because it's going to be updated regularly (I hope, anyway). 


	4. Entry 4

Author's Intro: My prog shut down right in the middle of me writing this, so now I have to type it up all over again, which sucks so bad! I had to dig deep into the characters emotionally, which is quite draining for me, really, and then all the deep stuff just disappears in an instant. I think it had something to do with the spell checker the comp constantly wanting to change the word uncute to uncut, now I've added a whole bunch of the character names and terms to the user dictionary so hopefully this wont happen again. So now I present the next installment, in its second typed draft:  
  
Ver. 2.0  
  
Update: A spelling error at the beginning corrected, and an update to Kuno's reaction to Ranma's closet full of girl's clothing.  
  
May 29th, 2003: Now I have all of these clothes, and I think I'll have to be a girl every other day to wear them. Normally I'm just a little weary about being splashed with cold water, but as a girl wearing those clothes hot water will start scaring the hell out of me. At least cold water is all over the place, so I can just quickly run to a pond, fountain, or swimming pool and dive in to save what little of my pride will be left at that point. Akane picked out a really nice dress, I'd say, it was amongst my favorites, and apparently hers as well. Thankfully, there was enough money left to go to the ice cream shop afterwards, which is one of my favorite girl pastimes, save the time when Shampoo was trying to kill me. Tomorrow is a trip to the theme park and Saturday night is the dance, so this week is just going to be crazy. I've gotten word back from Ryouga that everyone seems to be fairly calmed down, although some threats probably had to be made. Nabiki had to do a little blackmailing, or at least that's what I heard. Also, I think someone may have been through my room, Nabiki maybe, will she ever give up? I don't even keep my journal in my room anymore. Anyway, I think that's about it for today, but the next few days are going to be noteworthy as well I bet.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
As of today, a GUY I know has a larger wardrobe of girls clothes than I do, and he just happens to be my fiancé. Perhaps I am a Tomboy, I already said before that I was bisexual, although it was really only one incident, and the thought of "Ranma-chan" doesn't really turn me on, of course nor does him as a guy. It figures because we've only been on one "date", and the only reason I call it that is because it's the closest we've come to something like that in the two years we've known each other. Tomorrow will be the first real date, to an amusement park, and an expensive one at that, just the two of us so I think it'll be safe to call a date. I doubt it'll be the day we fall in love, I don't believe in the whole "love at first sight" thing, not that it would be really, I guess it's more like "falling in love on the first date" that I don't believe in. I doubt Ranma believe in that either, or in anything that mushy at all. On the subject of my sexual orientation, I'm not sure if I should tell him too soon, he might freak out…then again he might be overjoyed. Even though I've said he's probably not that much of a pervert, he's still a guy, which automatically makes him perverted in some way shape or form, so I'll just have to live with it, I suppose. At least he isn't one of those really sick ones, he's one of the least perverted guys I know of, next to Dr. Tofu, who is so close to not being that way, although I'm not sure what kind of thoughts he might sometimes have about my oldest sister. Anyway, tomorrow's probably going to be fun, and I'll definitely make a point to at least enjoy myself.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
(sorry if I forgot the ending salutation last time)  
  
Dearest Journal,  
  
I have recently heard some most disturbing news. That fiend, Ranma, has made his engagement to Akane official and the wedding is set to happen in less than three months time. As much as I'd like to stop this, her sister Nabiki and my date for the Senior Dance said she'd go with someone else if I tried to interfere. Perhaps my feelings for Akane are nothing more than puppy love, as well as my feelings for the tree borne kettle girl. They're a lost cause, anyway, considering I'll be going to Tokyo U in the fall and will be placed a good distance away, I will not have to witness Akane's suffering, if there's any at all. Akane seems up to it, and Nabiki let me go through Ranma's room searching for any black magic things that might be there while they went to the mall today. She assure me that Ranma had not been previously informed that she would let me do this, and I of course, now having the trust with her that I do, believed her. I found nothing except for a wardrobe of girl's clothing, which I must say is suspicious, but not black magic by any means. Still, why does he have them? Is it some perverted fetish he has? Or maybe he's loaning closet space to Akane because her own closet is full. In any case, I'm not certain I'll even know for sure. I did a rather thorough search, including looking for anything that might lead me to a secret underground chamber, but to no avail. Perhaps Akane really does like, even, forbid it, love him! It does not matter to me anymore, I am done with her, she can do as she wishes, even if it is marrying that tyrant.  
  
Sincerely, Tatewaki Kuno  
  
Author's Conclusion: Well, that's all for my two entry quota today. I hope you enjoyed all the hijinx I've put them through, and the guest entry by Kuno, I hope I portrayed his character okay (although it doesn't really matter I guess because I already made the disclaimer at the beginning of the story). So tomorrow I'll try my hand at a couple more chapters, which includes one of my longest, funniest, and perhaps most romantic third-person event: The Senior Dance. The only thing I'll tell you is that it's packed with surprises. ^_- 


	5. Entry 5

Author's Intro: Well, I've got a few reviews on the first few chapters and of course I like to offer feedback on the feedback.  
  
Dogbert Carroll:  
  
Not a great epic, but for a fic it's not half bad. I enjoyed reading it and will read every chapter you post.rnBTW Hey, I've thoroughly memorized all your faults, I'm just having trouble with your better traits, that's all. rnGreat line.  
  
Response: Well, by epic I meant in the scope, the ambition I have for the idea, I'm very creatively ambitious, but when it comes to most other things, like my grades, I'm not. Also, I'm glad I've written such a memorable line, it just sort of came to my head as I was typing, because as I said I hadn't hand-written that part like the other things. But I did think at the time that it was a very appropriate line to give Ranma.  
  
Jazzy:  
  
but ranma has to stay really masculine! or is he going as a girl? oh well, update soon! please!   
  
Response: Don't worry about updates, in entries three and four I mentioned that I planned on a quota of two chapters per day, or at least until I get past the stuff I've already hand written, then I might focus a bit more on individual chapters. But I have a lot of free time, so it probably wont be a problem. I'll try to make some kind of update each day. And on Ranma's "masculinity", it isn't going anywhere, he's just realizing that being able to transform into a girl might not be such a bad thing. ^_-  
  
Astania:  
  
ranma toss is word of honnor like that and reveal the P-Chan secret and Akane does not react to it?rnrnCommon, at least try on it.   
  
Response: Oh, as you've probably already read in I think chapter three, she slaps (or as Akane calls it, punishes) Ryouga. She forgives him, but she doesn't apologize for slapping him (why should she apologize for something she enjoyed doing?). Also, Ranma made the promise to a dog, as I recall, who he thought was Ryouga, and that was before he became Akane's "pet". I do recall Ranma trying to tell Akane on several occasions during the series, but she hasn't really listened to him until now. Also, Ranma is trying to be honest and knows that he'll have to tell Akane sooner or later because if the wedding goes through he certainly doesn't want "P-Chan" along for the honeymoon. Also, I should mention the reason she doesn't really react beyond "I've got too many things to worry about" is because Ryouga isn't there for her to slap him, and like she said, she has too much to think about which perhaps I should've followed with "-to be angry," but I felt that was a given.  
  
Butterfly:  
  
I like your idea. The different diaries and journals are very interesting. One thing that bothered me a little is the fact that Akane wasn't angry at Ranma when he told her about Ryoga. And , talking about that, would he really just blurt it out like that? rnOk, that were just thoughts, as I said, I like it very much. Please keep it up!   
  
Response: Well, I've kinda already address a few of those concerns. Actually, I did change it to happen up front, as opposed to the original draft where Ryouga tells Akane himself. I felt that the entire Ryouga thing just had to be gotten out of the way sooner, because having Ryouga say it just caused too many character problems for Akane at a point in the story where her emotions are already seriously confused. She had pretty much the same reaction, which was pretty much doing nothing. I probably could've written something that would work up to the revelation about Ryouga, perhaps have moved it up a little closer to the topic of being honest. I might make revisions to some of the chapters once I get finished with today's two chapters.  
  
Materia-Blade:  
  
i gotta question. How much of the Ranma 1/2 episodes have u seen? Are you comeing from the manga? Tell me do you know who Saffron, Herb, and Pantyhose Taro are? I seems like you haven't seem too much of the series. I can't see Ranma acting like he did in the third Chapter in a million years! Plus he has been into a clothes store. Remember the Episode called Pretty Womanhood? Ranma hits his head on a rock and thinks he's a girl... When is this story taking place anyway? One more thing before i get too the good parts of the review... Tatewaki Kuno... He would absolutly NEVER give up just like that... I mean never! I can't ever see it happening that way...rnrnNow for the better part. Your story was ok... is this a romance fic? Drama? Action, later on? I need to know. Either way its pretty good for either genre. I give the fic overall a 7/10.(i've read over 800 fics so that's sayin somethin...)rnrnGood fic.   
  
Response: Read the disclaimer, I think I made one, that the characters aren't exactly meant to reflect themselves. Just to keep away more complaints, I'll reveal a concept I'm working on, it just so happens that the girl who drowned in the cursed spring was a clothing nut. This is a slightly alternate universe fic based upon the first season that I have on DVD, the first Manga which I also have, and the episodes from the third season that I rented from Hollywood Video a ways back that introduced Ukyo, the Ranma movies, a bit of research I've done on the net, and a few fan fics I've read. Really, I guess you could say that I'm a cheap Ranma fan, I don't have a job yet and once I set up my computer graphics business I might have enough money to start buying the season boxed sets so I can actually no a hell of a lot more about the series. I really should've just had Kuno already moved away to Tokyo, but now he's got a few points where he appears in the plot that I feel would be hard to change. He's giving up because he knows he's going to have to move away and over the year since he graduated he's been trying really hard to get over them and let go, it's taken him a whole year to do that, that's why he didn't move right to Tokyo after receiving a scholarship (or something like that, I'm making this up as I go, so sue me). And oh, he has been in a clothing store? Does he still remember it even after whatever happened to make the whole thing go back to normal? Well crap…I officially proclaim this a universe where Ranma totally forgot about it!  
  
And as far as genres, action will likely take a back seat, although I have something cooked up, and it involves Shampoo, I will say nothing more. There will be drama, and this isn't always going to be a smooth road, although it's going to seem like that for a really large portion of the story.  
  
DachiChan:  
  
Well Kuno was kinda close but he would definately rave alot more about finding women's clothes in Ranma's closet. Probably along the lines of thinking him some pervert ect..   
  
Response: I did go to a lot of work trying to convince Kuno that Akane would be happier with Ranma. The whole woman's clothes thing was a bit of a gag, and it's hard for me to make a gag then have the character react to it naturally. Perhaps I should've just made him think something rather dumb like "maybe he's just lending Akane some extra closet space", but that would really only serve to go against the idea that Kuno's gotten smart enough to actually get over Akane and the "tree borne kettle girl".  
  
So there you have it, my responses to the reviews and please continue to note that the characters as I believe I disclaimed earlier, are not necessarily meant to reflect their counterparts in the series, although I do try my best, something have to be done for the interests of the plot flow I've set up. There are many moments in the journal entries where the characters seem to ask "Why the hell did I do that?", and they'll never find the true answer because the true answer is "The writer made you do it!".  
  
Don't think however that I wont take the reviews to heart, one already gave me an idea for something I'll do in entry six, and I'll thank that person in the author's conclusion during that chapter. So thanks for your feedback!  
  
Now after over two pages of responding to reviews, on with the story!  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: A little more clarity regarding the role-reversal of Akane and Ranma with the roller coasters.  
  
May 30th, 2003: The Amusement Park  
  
"Well, thanks for not deciding to come as a girl today." Akane said to Ranma.  
  
"You know, if you keep saying stuff like that in public places, I think people are bound to stare at some point." Ranma replied.  
  
"I know, I probably should've told you some time before we got here."  
  
"Well, it's too late now, and at least no one IS staring."  
  
"It'll be safer when and if we go to the gift shop."  
  
"Yeah, but we should save that for last."  
  
"So, which rides should we stop at?"  
  
"The roller coasters, definitely!"  
  
"I should've figured…"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Never mind…"  
  
"Oh, so you think that only guys like going on roller coasters?"  
  
"Well, there are plenty of girls who go on them, I guess they enjoy it. Either that or it's just because their boyfriend's going on it or something."  
  
"So what's you're problem?"  
  
"I'm not a real 'roller-coaster' type-person."  
  
"You're not into them? Or do you throw up?"  
  
"No, they give me headaches."  
  
"Headaches?" Akane raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Probably from being jostled around so much. Or it might be allergies, stuff in the air rushing up my nose and such, affecting my sinuses. It could be a combination of those things."  
  
"So I guess that might mean most of the rides are out the question."  
  
"And I just don't really like roller coasters, headaches aren't the only reason, it's mostly a matter of taste. I'm not lying, okay? I don't throw up. I like the tilt-a-whirl and scrambler, and they jostle me around a bit too, and sometimes I get headaches, but I don't mind those. There are also a lot of those cool theme-rides I'd definitely like to see, and the carousel, the water rapids, and the farris wheel. That's plenty of stuff other than roller-coasters here."  
  
"Well, just let me ride on one of them, you can wait for me, and be a wimp if you want."  
  
"A WIMP?! Hey, don't try using my resentment of that term to use me!" Ranma said, then looked at a saw Akane's challenging gaze for a moment longer before continuing "Because it works every time!"  
  
Much to Ranma's distress, Akane chose the biggest, longest, most scary-looking coaster in the entire park to go on. At least the line was long, so that Ranma could attempt in vain to prepare himself for the inevitable.  
  
Once they were on and strapped in, Ranma's heart was pounding faster than what was probably the maximum speed of the roller coaster. After the first hill, Ranma couldn't help but actually feel a rush of excitement. He had never been on a roller coaster since he was a little kid, and he had been scared as hell of ridding them ever since, but now it was an entirely different experience. All his fears where released in the sheer thrill of the ups and downs, corkscrews and loop de loops. By the time it was done, in an ironic reversal of roles, Ranma was begging to go on another, but Akane didn't think her stomach could probably take it.  
  
The rest of the day was spent on the rides that Ranma had mentioned before, and they both had a really good time. Then the park was about to close so they had to leave. Ranma was glad they were at least able to go on one more coaster before they left.  
  
May 30th, 2003: Today me and Akane went to an amusement park, and I learned that roller coasters aren't as scary as I thought they were. That's another one off my list of stupid fears I have to overcome…a the bottom, of course…is my worst fear…no, I'd rather not discuss it. It brings back too many bad memories. So anyway, we had a good time, and Akane's the one who always got sick to her stomach, although I admire that she didn't throw up or anything. I'm not sure if I could really call this "date" a romantic one, but we got to know each other (and perhaps even ourselves, how's that for being deep) just a little bit more. Well, we went on several rides, as many as we could. We got there when they opened and left shortly before they closed, so we got the full experience, I guess. So, really, I can't think of anything else, except I think it was a good first date. Akane might actually have some redeeming qualities, after all.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Ranma might have some redeeming qualities, after all. He actually got past his fear of roller coasters and rode one to find out that he actually enjoyed it. Then I found out that my stomach can't handle it as well as it used to. Still, we had a really good time there, got to know a few new things about each other, maybe not so much biographical information but a lot about interests. I told him how I like playing video games, for one thing. He of course likes them, he's a guy, all guys are genetically programmed for three things: Being somehow perverted, being a jerk on occasion, and playing video games. At least that's my list so far. Some guys do evolve beyond their programming, for example, Dr. Tofu, although I never knew those days he probably had them, and I'm hoping Ranma may serves as a definite example. So I'm a bit more excited about the dance on Saturday night, but: Does Ranma actually know how to dance?  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
Author's Conclusion: Well, there you have it. By the way, the whole headache thing is a problem that I actually do have with roller coasters, so I decided to put it in as an excuse for Ranma. I hope once again that they aren't going too far out of character yet, although be warned the next part is going to be nearly a complete turnaround for the characters-just be warned. 


	6. Entry 6

Author's intro: Well, here I go again, this damn program just closes for no damn reason and it drives me nuts! This chapter I'm pretty much writing from what I wrote, since it's so specific and stuff. I already warned last chapter about the characters spinning around three hundred and sixty degrees by the end of this chapter, so just keep that in mind when you go and harass me about it. Lol  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: None, the chapters regarding the dance will remain unaltered.  
  
May 31st, 2003: Both myself and Akane are making entries before and after the dance, to sort of note on the changes in our "relationship". We're definitely going to get a lot of chances to talk tonight, and yeah, I can dance, by the way. My old man had me take lessons, although I'm not sure if it was in preparation for something like this or if it was like he said trying to teach me balance and coordination. In any case, that's one of the few things I'm actually glad he did, and apparently Akane took lessons too, which seems weird for her…because she took them to learn how to dance and it had very little to do with her martial arts training. So it's good that we both know how to dance otherwise things could end up very embarrassing for one or both of us. Anyway, my Dad's yelling at me to come downstairs because Akane's probably waiting.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
No, the dance hasn't happened yet, but I had to make an entry today, because if anything by the time the dance is over, it'll already be tomorrow, that and I'll be tired as hell when I get home. It's weird though, I have this weird feeling that something's going to change tonight, and I don't know why the hell I'm feeling that. Some people say that women have a kind of intuition but considering that I'm kinda "tomboyish" as Ranma puts it, I never really thought I'd have it. I guess I've got to have one other feminine attribute aside from my body type, well actually I have a lot of those kind of attributes, I am a girl, and I'm not ashamed of it, why the hell should I be? I just happen to share some interests that guys have, and thankfully not the ones I loathe. Well, there's my Kasumi, delivering a message from my dad, telling me I need to be downstairs before Ranma comes down. Well, wish me luck.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
The Big Night:  
  
"Get your ass downstairs! You don't want to keep Akane waiting!" Genma shouted into Ranma's room before heading downstairs to apologize to Soun and Akane for the delay.  
  
Just as Genma was doing that, Kasumi came up the stairs to Akane's Ranma, gently knocking on the door and saying, "Excuse me, Akane, your father wants you downstairs before Ranma gets there."  
  
"I'll be right down in a minute!"  
  
"Okay, I'll go tell him."  
  
Ranma took a moment to adjust his tie. It was a suit his father had gotten for him, it wasn't bad, but then again there might be better ones out there somewhere, he didn't know since he'd never gone to a shop that sold them. No matter.  
  
Thankfully, his old man wasn't waiting outside the door for him, he'd hate that. But across the hall, Akane was just coming out of her own room.  
  
'So much for being down there before he is…'  
  
'So much for making her wait…'  
  
"We both came out of our rooms at the same time! WE MUST BE MEANT FOR EACHOTHER!"  
  
With that, Akane flung herself into Ranma's strong, manly arms in an intimate embrace.  
  
Imagining that, Ranma chuckled to himself, thinking if only it were that simple.  
  
Akane just looked up him, a bit puzzled by his reaction.  
  
"Do you actually think that it's fate that we happened to be leaving our rooms at the same time?" Ranma asked, still chuckling a bit.  
  
"Who knows? Does it matter? They're waiting for us downstairs, we should head down."  
  
Ranma offered her his arm.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I figured we should kinda go down together, it'd make a nice photograph, and I'm sure Nabiki's got a camera down there."  
  
So she wrapped her arm around Ranma's and they headed downstairs, where sure enough they were greeted by a blinding flash of light.  
  
"Ah, you're finally down here!" Soun said.  
  
"Nabiki arranged a few surprises for you." Genma added.  
  
"Does it have anything to do with why I've been seeing her around more at school?" Akane asked.  
  
"Maybe." Nabiki replied, "But I'm pretty sure I arranged for the limo at one of the local rental places."  
  
"A LIMO!" Ranma exclaimed.  
  
"You must remember that she's got the vault full of strings that she likes to pull somewhere. I still haven't found it yet, but it's definitely there."  
  
"Nicely put." Nabiki said.  
  
"Now let them get out there so they can get to the restaurant in time!" Soun said.  
  
"Yeah, I've gotta go pick up my date, anyway."  
  
So they all went outside, and talk about your stretch limo!  
  
"Will anyone else be traveling with us?"  
  
"No, just you two."  
  
"Why all the extra seats?"  
  
"All the cheaper ones were already taken. Besides, this one has a lot more features in it than length, and you'll be glad to know that there's an emergency hot tub for Ranma!"  
  
It was Akane's turn to chuckle while Ranma remained silent.  
  
"So just have a good time, and get to know each other a bit, or preferably, a lot."  
  
"Bye!" Akane said before getting into the limo after Ranma.  
  
The limo did indeed have a lot of extra features, and the main thing they used on the trip to the restaurant was Virtua Fighter 4. Akane won the first three games, then after gripping that Ranma was obviously going easy on her, she got beat once, then beat Ranma fair and square for the last four matches before they finally arrived.  
  
The restaurant they chose wasn't really fancy, just one of those were they serve you at the tables. Once they got seated and made there orders, they got to talking.  
  
"You're pretty good at that game, for a girl I mean."  
  
"Obviously good enough to be you when you're not just letting me win."  
  
"Who said I wasn't those last few matches, I last beat you that one time to show that I could, and to stop your gripping about me 'letting you win'."  
  
"Why tell me now, why not just leave me in the facade you so courteously created for me?"  
  
"Because as I said before, I believe honesty is a nice factor to have in this relationship."  
  
"Oh, like making me think that I was actually winning on my own skills then telling me only after the fact what you were doing?"  
  
"Hey, if you think you won by skill, I won't challenge that, okay?"  
  
The waitress came with the food and drinks, Akane thanked her, but Ranma of course, didn't.  
  
"You know, I'm kinda glad you're a bit of a tomboy."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Because we share some interests, a guess a guy should consider himself lucky to find a girl like that."  
  
"Yeah, you should. Now let's eat before the food gets cold."  
  
"Speaking of cold, we should have some ice cream for dessert."  
  
"Uh…you aren't an…*ahem*…right now."  
  
"So, I'm making an exception today."  
  
"Well, the faster we eat, the sooner we'll get to it."  
  
"My sentiments exactly!"  
  
After finishing the meal, and the ice cream for dessert, they got back into the limo to head for the dance.  
  
Author's Conclusion: I guess I'll be dividing this into parts, since I've already done around three pages which seems to be my standard, plus I'm kinda running out of computer time. It's also a nice time to stop. So yeah, they haven't made there big character turn around yet, but it'll happen on this day in the story, or rather the next day since it'll already be…damn I hate things that go past midnight. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. 


	7. Entry 7

Author's Intro: Now that's it's become a bit of a tradition right now, I'm going to do more responses to the reviews, which will also serve to be an author's intro in and of it self because I address issues that I was going to mention here, anyway.  
  
Author's Feedback on Feedback:  
  
Shun ^ Hyoga:  
  
This is really nice!rnI love your fic a lot.rnGreat job.   
  
&  
  
Ellen:  
  
That was great!  
  
Response: Uh…thank you, I guess…although in critiquing your review, I must say that the worst part is not saying why it was great, that's kinda a key part of a review. It would at least give me an idea of how to keep up the good work.  
  
Dogbert Carroll:  
  
*shrug* A lot of character development but no action so far.  
  
Response: The "action" as in martial arts stuff, doesn't happen until sometime in the later half of July (in the context of the story, I'll hopefully get there before the actual dates in real time). If you look at the Genre indicator, it says Romance/Humor, which means that Action is probably going to take a back seat for the majority of the story. Hmm…perhaps I could've been more descriptive when they were playing Virtua Fighter 4, maybe when I start working on version 2.0 of some of the chapters.  
  
Butterfly:  
  
Nice. Slow pace, creating suspence. Lol. A good thing indeed, if you don't keep us hanging here for too long. So please update soon!   
  
Response: Yeah, I did a lot of writing on paper, and it's amazing how much you can write about individual days, although after they graduate they'll only be writing entries twice a week (to help speed up the pacing in an otherwise slow summer). Coming up is a big character turn around, as I mentioned before, that I have been criticized for doing in another Ranma fan fiction and consequently had to change (in that story), so now I have to focus on trying to make it believable that Akane would actually let it happen. I'll only give one hint right now: It does not, I repeat, DOES NOT involve sex, because that would be terribly out of character, and I've doing enough damage as it is. Lol  
  
Butterfly:   
  
Uhm... A minor technical prob: could you re-check the roles in the part where Akane and Ranma talk about going to the rolloer coaster? I mean, I got confused about who was saying what, and I thought Akane was the one who hated them till the last part. rnOtherwise, a very nice chapter, now I'll go on reading the next one. ^_^   
  
Response: Okay, this is about the previous chapter, I'm just going down through my inbox right now covering these. Just to clarify, it is Ranma who used to be afraid of roller coasters when he was a kid, Akane enjoyed them tremendously when she was a kid, neither of them have been to an amusement park in a pretty long time. So now the roles turn out to reverse, in a strange twist Ranma turns out to enjoy roller coasters and Akane now seems to get sick to her stomach when she goes on one. Apparently, her body or chemistry or something changed when she got older to be more prone to stomach as than she was as a child. Perhaps I should've been more clear on that. So there's another thing to put on my 2.0 update list: clarifying the ironic character twist.  
  
Mary:  
  
This is really good. I hope they have a nice time at the dance. It seems they don't have any "romantic" feelings towards each other yet, but I'm sure you're just buttering them up.   
  
Response: This is something I've been wanting to talk about, a change in the scene where Ranma and Akane first see each other. Originally, Ranma sees Akane in her dress for the first time as a guy, and kinda goes into a trance. I would've written it in, but I went on a little improv thought inspired by the movie Analyze This based upon the concept that it was a very weird coincidence that they happened to leave their rooms at the same time. It also helped because it eliminated a scene that might make it look like their relationship is from the offset becoming a lot more romantic, so it was really a good cut, but then it means that I'm going to have to work harder to make the character turnaround scene seem more normal.  
  
Dogbert Carroll:  
  
It all seems too easy. Shampoo not attacking anyone, Ryoga suddenly over his obsession as well as Ukyou. Ranma suddenly a lot brighter and Akane no longer having drastic mood swings.  
  
Response: Oh, trust me, in the chapter that follows, Shampoo's going to be pulling something, Ryouga (dammit, how is his name spelled?! If there's no "u", it'll be corrected in 2.0), is going to probably have a guest journal entry, which will probably be having him, like most of the journal entries try to do, explaining his weird and sudden change of heart. Ranma seems to now be a lot smarter than everyone thought he was, and Akane, who knows what's going on with her now. She did have one mood swing, which is one moment slapping Ryouga and the next forgiving him. I'd call that at least somewhat drastic. lol  
  
Anime Goddess: HEY!GREAT STORY, UPDATE SOON!I ACTUALLY LIKE RYOGA AND UKYO THE BEST AND THINK THEY WOULD MAKE AN AWESOME COUPLE, EVEN THOUGH I THINK RYOGA AND MYSELF WOULD BE BETTER.:prnWELL, LIKE I ASKED BEFORE, UPDATE SOON!YOU ARE A GREAT WRITER, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!:p   
  
Response: *Hits caps lock key* YEAH! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! DID I EVEN MENTION THAT RYOUGA AND UKYO WOULD BE TOGETHER IN THIS CHAPTER?! I HINTED AT IT, AT LEAST IN THE LAST RESPONSE! NOW IT'S OFFICIAL! AND YEAH, I WILL KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, FOR SURE! *Hits caps lock key again*  
  
Well, it's been fun responding to the numerous reviews I've been getting. And I must say that I enjoy feedback and that it will be used to update chapters in my 2.0 update (which will likely happen after I get through everything I currently have written on paper). The update will include being just a tad bit more historically accurate and making the characters maybe just a little more true to the originals.  
  
So now, to continue where I left off!  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: N/A  
  
The Dance:  
  
They watched the dojo fight sequence off The Matrix DVD. By the time it was over, they arrived.  
  
They went inside, presented their tickets, and went up the elevator to the dance "floor". It was still early so the dance music hadn't started yet. Just some corny-sounding tune from some god-forsaken generation of music. They did see a few familiar faces, and discovered that Nabiki's date was none other than-Kuno? Alrighty…then they saw Ryouga with Ukyo, and the fact that Ryouga's black eye, oddly shaped like a handprint, hadn't quite healed yet.  
  
Ranma felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Kuno standing behind him.  
  
"Excuse me, but I wish to speak with you at some point in the near future, here may not be…an appropriate place for that which I desire to discuss with you," Kuno said.  
  
"What is it, Kuno? The engagement will probably end up going through whether any of us likes it or not." Akane said.  
  
"It is true that what I want to discuss regards the engagement, but I'd like to talk to Ranma, man-to-man, so to speak. I wish to know his intentions…to put my mind at ease before I leave for Tokyo in a couple weeks."  
  
"Okay, sure, Ukyo's place, you can pick the time. If you try to pull anything, she'll be sure to hit you on the head with whichever large kitchen utensil is nearest."  
  
"Such precautions I suppose are understandable. How about next Saturday, exactly a week from now, at noon."  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
"Alright then. Now, if you'd excuse me, my date is waiting for me with some refreshments."  
  
Without another word, Kuno left Ranma and Akane a bit bewildered by the encounter.  
  
"What do you think that was all about?" Akane asked.  
  
"From what I could tell, he might just want to figure out if I'm 'worthy' of your hand in marriage or something."  
  
"Looks like Nabiki's got him under her finger, though."  
  
"Is that Mouse?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Over there, with…it looks like Shampoo."  
  
"I think it is Shampoo, and Mouse."  
  
"Maybe she's finally gotten over me."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
Finally, the REAL dance music started playing. It started with some of the faster songs, which Ranma was definitely good at dancing to, while Akane kinda had to follow his lead. Then there were some slower songs, which was were Akane had more immediate experience. Ranma learned fast, or rather, started remembering things from his dance classes as they went.   
  
It was while they were slow dancing that Ranma noticed that Shampoo and Mouse were dancing together within his sight distance. He also noticed that she was holding Mouse in a rather "intimate"-looking way. He was a bit confused about it, wondering how she moved on so-  
  
"Look who's trying to make you jealous." Akane pointed out.  
  
Then it hit him like a freight train-why hadn't he thought of it before? It should've been OBVIOUS!  
  
"Poor Mouse, being taken advantage of like that…"  
  
"I think it would be better if we just ignored them."  
  
"But-"  
  
"What else could we do, pry her off him, start a fight? With the whole kiss-of-death thing, I don't think that would be very wise."  
  
"Alright…"  
  
"I'm glad you're giving Ranma a chance, Kuno." Nabiki said.  
  
"What I really would like to know is what he's doing with a bunch of women's clothes in his closet." Kuno replied.  
  
"Well, you can-uh-ask him then."  
  
"I certainly shall."  
  
"You don't mind the fact that I turn into a pig, do you?" Ryouga asked.  
  
"Just as long as you don't use it to sneak into my room like you did with Akane. If you do, you're going to have a matching black eye on the other side of your face." Ukyo replied.  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
Meanwhile, Akane and Ranma were going for refreshments. Akane saw that Shampoo was now making out with Mouse against a nearby wall.  
  
"Ranma…I don't think I can take much more of this!"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Shampoo!"  
  
"Wow, it looks like she's making you more jealous than she's making me."  
  
"Ranma, you're provoking me, and don't think you'll like me when I'm provoked!"  
  
"Sorry, sorry…I meant that in only the most kidding-around way."  
  
"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. WE'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE SENIOR DANCE COURT!"  
  
Akane and Ranma watched as mostly people they didn't know, and only a few they actually did, were introduced and walked down the center of the dance floor.  
  
"NOW, OUR KING AND QUEEN THIS YEAR WILL LIKELY GO DOWN IN FURIKAN HIGH HISTORY AS BEING THE FIRST WRITE-IN COUPLE TO ACTUALLY WIN THESE COVETED POSITIONS! WE DID NOT NOTIFY THEM IN ADVANCE BY REQUEST OF ONE OF THEIR RELATIVES, SO THIS IS SURE TO BE QUITE A SURPRISE FOR THEM."  
  
Akane was sure she saw Nabiki wink at them at some point during the announcement.  
  
"ALLOW ME NOW TO PROUDLY INTRODUCE THIS YEAR'S SENIOR DANCE KING AND QUEEN BY WRITE-IN VOTE: RANMA SAOTOME AND AKANE TENDO!"  
  
All eyes turned to them, as if they all seemed to know exactly where they were standing. And they parted to make a path for them as if it were all choreographed. They both just stood there, wanting the announcer to repeat what he just said for clarification.  
  
When they didn't move, the guys who had the crows decided to just head down and put them on their heads. This seemed to snap them out of the trance they were in.  
  
"…I take it your sister planned this?"  
  
"More like organized it…so that's what she's been doing, made a whole campaign to get as voted as a write in. I don't know how the hell she managed to pull it off without us finding out somehow."  
  
"NOW WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE CLEAR THE DANCE FLOOR FOR THE TRADITIONAL KING AND QUEEN DANCE!"  
  
Ranma had just noticed how good Akane's dress looked. He had seen it before, but that was as a girl, and a girl shopping for clothes at that (he still couldn't figure out why the hell he did that). She looked…dare he think it: beautiful.  
  
"Ranma, I think they want us out there." Akane said, snapping him out of it.  
  
"Oh, sorry, I just realized how nice you look in that dress."  
  
"Took you long enough," she said, "Now let's go."  
  
They got out and danced, the song happened to be one of Akane's favorites, no doubt Nabiki made the request, and it only served to make the moment even more perfect. Ranma wasn't that big into romantic songs, but he went with it, drawing from the apparent glint in Akane's eyes. Everything around them seemed to fade away, and it was only the two of them, wondering how the hell things got to this point, this moment in time, a moment that just a week previous would've been unimaginable. Then the song was over, and everyone else started to crowd in around them. For a few more seconds, they just stood there, still lost in the oblivion of each other's eyes, before realizing that a fast song was playing now.  
  
They stayed until the very last song was less than an echo in their ears. They then headed back downstairs in the elevator and headed towards the limo to head back home.  
  
Author's Conclusion: The next chapter will bring the promised turn-around, I swear! And I'll be typing it up next, so you should be able to read it now, if not just shortly. I hope you enjoyed it and that I created the sense of a romance that's just starting to form between Ranma and Akane, and that you got a few laughs in as well, those are important you know. 


	8. Entry 8

Author's Intro: I'd like to make some further comments on the last chapter. I've been to prom my Junior and Senior year, so I kind of based it on my experience, although both times I went alone, I never wont Prom King by write-in-vote, and I only danced with a girl once, and she kept turning her head to look at other people or something, or maybe I'm just being a pessimist about it. So it was obviously not the inspiration for when Akane and Ranma dance, but I used some of my knowledge of my own experience to try and bring it alive, including the weird music they played this year before the actual dance started.  
  
Once again, I'll warn you that there is a serious character arc thing going on here that will make Akane do something she wouldn't normally do if not for the character arc. So don't blame me, blame the friggin' arc! lol  
  
Ver. 2.0  
  
Update: N/A  
  
That Night:  
  
After everything that happened that night, they were both exhausted, and to make matters worse, a thunderstorm started halfway through the ride. Akane looked over at Ranma and noticed he seemed a bit spooked, probably at the thought that he'd probably have to go to sleep as a girl because he'd be too tired to take a warm bath. If that was true, he was sure being dramatic about it.  
  
As soon as they got home, they made a dash for the door. Sure enough, by the time they made it under the roof in front of the house, Ranma had become Ranma-chan. He, or rather, she still seemed as spooked as ever though.  
  
Akane saw a note tapped to the door.  
  
Ranma & Akane:  
  
We had an unexpected visitor tonight and he's staying in Ranma's room. The room is locked because he doesn't like to be disturbed. Hopefully, you two won't mind sharing a room tonight, since you're getting married in a few months, anyway. By the way, congratulations on becoming King and Queen (Nabiki let us in on her plans, we hope you liked the surprise). Also, we hope you two had a good time at the dance.  
  
Sincerely, Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome  
  
"I-I can sleep on the couch if you don't-"  
  
"Nah, it's no problem."  
  
"I-it's better than sleeping on the floor in y-your room."  
  
"Who said you'd have to sleep on the floor?"  
  
"A-Akane, are y-you alright? D-did someone spi-spike the drinks or s-something?"  
  
"So that explains why I'm letting you share my bed and why you've started stuttering! It must have different effects on different people."  
  
"I-I'm okay, I'm just a little c-cold, th-that's all."  
  
"Sure you are, you've been shuddering like that since it started raining while we were in the limo, if I had engaged you in conversation, you probably would've been stuttering then."  
  
"Th-then maybe it was the dr-drinks…"  
  
"Let's at least get inside."  
  
"G-good idea."  
  
Once they got inside, Akane turned to Ranma.  
  
"Okay, look, I'm tired, you're in your girl mode so it's not as bad is if I let you share the bed as a guy, it was a wonderful night, I trust you, and think the least I can do is let you sleep comfortably. Also, if you do try to pull something, I will mostly likely kill you, if your lucky just injure you, and if your Dad wins the lottery jackpot, I might just let you off with a loss of the aforementioned trust."  
  
"W-well, I figured that…"  
  
"And that's what I love about you, Ranma, the way you figure things out when you finally put your mind to them. That's one thing down, about a million other things I'll have to start loving about you before I can officially say I'm "in love" with you."  
  
"A-Akane, it's late at night, d-don't try to make w-witticisms this late, please."  
  
"A-alright R-R-Ranma."  
  
"Now get dressed in the bathroom, and please knock on my door before you come in."  
  
"S-sure."  
  
Akane headed upstairs to her room wondering why the hell Ranma was talking so weird.  
  
A little while after she finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on her door.  
  
"Yeah, you can come in."  
  
Ranma opened the door slowly, and shut it with the same reluctance.  
  
"A-are you still s-sure?"  
  
There was a loud clap of thunder and Ranma just about screamed while jumping a few inches off the ground.  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"W-what?"  
  
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
"De-depends on wh-what it is."  
  
"Are you afraid of thunder storms?"  
  
"Of c-course not!!" Ranma exclaimed, and after another clap of thunder, continued, "Ju-just at night…"  
  
'Great! Just great! Now tell me again why I'm sharing my bed with a little girl who's afraid of the mean old thunderstorm?'  
  
"If y-you don't w-want to…"  
  
"Ranma, just lay down, please…I'm tired and would rather not have to think right now…"  
  
"O-okay…"  
  
She reluctantly laid down on the exact opposite side of the bed, which still wasn't far enough away for her to be prevented from grabbing hold of Akane at the next clap of thunder.  
  
"S-s-sorry, I won't do that a-again!"  
  
"No, please, just hold on to me and stay there 'cause it'll be a lot easier for me to sleep if you're not clinging and unclinging from me all night."  
  
"A-Akane, are you REALLY sure you're alright?"  
  
"NO! OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT! I'M TIRED AS HELL AND SURE YOU ARE TOO SO I'M SHOWING YOU SOME COURTESY SO APPRECIATE IT 'CAUSE THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M GONNA DO THIS AGAIN!"  
  
"I-I don't think it's good for you to g-get worked up l-like that."  
  
"Actually, it's making me more tired so I might just fall asleep faster, so just shut up and let me sleep."  
  
"Sure, wha-whatever you say."  
  
But Akane was already asleep by the time she said that. Although she was still a bit weary of the storm, soon sleepiness won over fear and Ranma feel asleep as well.  
  
Author's Conclusion: Please, don't say I didn't warn you., and don't say Akane isn't having the craziest mood swings yet at the end of this chapter. lol  
  
I may yet do a third entry today since I'm anxious to write about the morning after to explain a few things that obviously need explaining. I hope you enjoyed this little slightly off-character trip that you might kill me for writing, so that you might not kill me for writing it. Thank you. 


	9. Entry 9

Author's Intro: Well, this is drawing near the end of what might probably be the longest series of third-person "events" until closer to the time of the wedding. In this chapter, the morning after, and maybe one guest journal entry to finish it off (there's a lot of stuff that's going to happen in the event, so I'll save Ranma and Akane's entries for tomorrow).   
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: Some changes to Mouse's journal entry to make it a bit more accurate.  
  
The Morning After:  
  
When Akane woke up, she, strictly by instinct, pushed Ranma off the bed yelling "PERVERT! BAKA!" followed, after fully waking up and remembering the previous night "OHMIGAWD I'M SORRY RANMA! ARE YOU HURT?"  
  
"Only my pride…and damn it hurts!"  
  
Just then the door opened, and Kasumi stepped in.  
  
"Excuse me, is anything wrong?"  
  
"Well, Ranma and I had to share the room tonight because of the guest-"  
  
"We have a guest?"  
  
"Didn't father tell you?"  
  
"I'd think he would."  
  
"Oh shit…" Ranma said.  
  
"They couldn't have!"  
  
"I think they did…"  
  
"Was his room locked?"  
  
"Yeah, when I heard his name, I checked there first."  
  
"When I see them, I'm gonna-"  
  
"I don't think you're in any condition to do anything like that, at least, not until after a trip to Dr. Tofu's."  
  
Later, at that very place…  
  
"Seems like you two haven't quite gotten off on the right foot since the engagement was made official." Dr. Tofu commented, "Of course, you guys have rarely even been as much on the right foot as toe-to-toe."  
  
"Actually, this time it was an accident…well, kinda." Ranma explained.  
  
"What do you mean, KINDA?!" Akane shouted.  
  
"She did it by habit, I can't blame her. Honestly, I really can't. This is what I was afraid of when she said I could sleep in her bed last night."  
  
"Oh…I don't think I'll ask anymore about it…"  
  
"It wasn't anything…our parents made us think there was a guest staying in his room."  
  
"They even went so far as to lock the door, although I probably should've tried. I was just so tired."  
  
"And I'm going to probably have to get you some hot water, since you probably haven't used any since the storm last night."  
  
Ranma cringed a little at the memory, but she was glad that Akane didn't say anything about her fear.  
  
"Well, there you are, good as new. I'll go fetch a kettle for you."  
  
"Thanks." Ranma said, for once showing gratitude to someone.  
  
Once Dr. Tofu had left, Ranma also did the same for Akane.  
  
"Thanks for not telling him about the storm, it's kinda embarrassing…"  
  
"Kinda?"  
  
"Okay, really embarrassing."  
  
"Remember: Honesty."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Just then Dr. Tofu came in with the kettle and poured the hot water over Ranma's head, transforming him back to his normal state.  
  
"I wish someday people would remember that it just needs to be warm."  
  
Sunday, June 1st, 2003:  
  
I don't recall ever feeling so humiliated in my life. Shampoo didn't take me to the dance because she liked me, but because she wanted to make Ranma jealous. Well, at least she seems to think she succeeded, although I highly doubt it. Anyway, I was devastated, quite obviously, I still am, kind of, but now I have a plan. From what I know about Amazon tribal rituals, and particularly if the "fiancé" isn't agreeable to the marriage, another man can make a challenge, and if he wins, will gain her hand/ Although I know that it's really about the strongest man, but I don't think I can prove it by defeating Ranma, more than likely I'd be expected to kill him in order to be considered victorious, since that's the only way they can know for sure that Ranma didn't just let me win. Still, this is the only chance I have to win her heart, I'm sure of it, but I don't have the skill for it, otherwise I would have tried before, so I'm going to ask Ranma and Akane to train me, since both have defeated Shampoo before, albeit with the obvious differences in the results. If they do it well enough, she might end up believing that I'm stronger than Ranma, or at least that's what I hope. It will also help them to make sure that Shampoo won't ruin their own wedding, so it is to our mutual advantage. I will ask them perhaps during the week after their graduation. In the meantime, I must find a place of lodging because I'm not sure if it would be safe to stay in her company if she discovers my plans.  
  
Author's conclusion: This chapter is a little shorter than the others, I know, but it is an extra entry for the day, so what do you expect? Also note the Author's notes I made in Mouse's entry, so you Ranma experts who have all the episodes memorized and probably even all saved somewhere on you computer, please give me a hand here. Also, on the same note, if the whole Amazon law thing turns out to be confirmed as wrong in an episode of Ranma, it'll probably have to be one of those things I need to either rewrite somehow to add a little way Mouse can get around that tribal law, some kind of exemption, or just dismiss it as one of the little "alternate universe" elements of this fic. Well, I hope you enjoyed this in either case, cya in tomorrow's updates! 


	10. Entry 10

Author's Note: I just ordered a CD off of E-Bay for $5 that has all the Ranma Mangas Vols. 1-38 in English! This should help me out a little with accuracy, at least to the Manga version (I may have said before, but I only have the first one on paperback). I'm also in the process of downloading the first seven, which seem to be the only ones available on KaZaA, so that'll be some stuff I can read at least until I get the CD in the mail.  
  
Critique Corner:  
  
Goku90504:  
  
other than the the marry guys who win and kill girls who win the amazon laws are kept in the dark in cannon rnother than if mouse can beat ranma shampoo then has to marry mouse there is nothing beyond the first two laws in the cannon and that third one is mainly sugguested at not said stright out   
  
Response: Well, having him try to convince Ranma to let him beat him would just be too easy. Ranma would do it in a flash probably to get Shampoo off his back, but I like the whole "training" idea better.  
  
Christine:  
  
Good job i really luv your story! Keep up the good work and i hope to read more chapters soon!   
  
Response: I'm just going to have to accept that some people will just rave about my story, and some will simply have concerns about the characters. lol  
  
At least so far no one's complaining about Chapter 8, that's a good sign.  
  
So there you have it, a three chapter update and only two reviews on it. Well, I'm gonna update with one or two new chapters now, although I'm not in a particularly good mood right now…  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: None, the chapter's not half bad, really.  
  
June 1st, 2003: We should've known from the start our parents were just setting us up. Well, at least it helped me get some sleep. I'm not sure if I would've been able to if it weren't for what Soun and my old man were trying to pull. I'm scared half to death of thunder storms at night, but not during the day time, which is weird, I guess. I suppose that at night they're just a little scarier, enough to make me afraid of them as opposed to the daytime when I'm just fine. It's like one extreme to another, not at all during the day and as hell at night. I think it just came from all the trips I had with Pop, where we were very much exposed to the elements. During the day we were always traveling, but during the night, of course, we were sleeping, or trying to, anyway. My old man never was the kind of guy I could go to and say "the rainstorm's scaring me, I need some comfort!", as in definitely not the "crawl-into-bed-and-hold-onto-him" type of dad. My mom might have been that way, if she was ever with us. I guess it may have just been a lack of anything to make me feel safe when I was young and actually being out in it that carried over to the present. Now I have Akane, but I can quote her on saying she'd never do it again, plus the morning after wasn't exactly peaceful. She, by reflex, I guess…tossed me off the bed calling me a pervert before fully coming to her senses and remembering she's the one who asked me to sleep in her bed instead of on the coach. I probably should've picked the coach, but that would've been double the things preventing me from getting any sleep: The storm, the lack of blankets, and the fact that coaches weren't actually built for sleeping comfort. At least I'm rested, anyway, Akane apologized immediately after doing what she did, and Dr. Tofu was able to fix me up real quick and get me back in my guy form. The dance was alright, we apparently got voted as King and Queen by write-in, thanks to Nabiki's efforts. Ryouga was on a date with Ukyo, so that's good, Kasumi was with Kuno, and Kuno asked me to meet with him on the upcoming Saturday, for a "man to man" talk regarding Akane (oh, I can't wait for that!). The only bad part was that Shampoo was apparently using Mouse to make me jealous, and Akane was getting really pissed because of it. Still, we got to dance a lot and I don't know there might be something going on between us. Nah, I wouldn't call it love yet, just some kind of connection.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Apparently, Cats aren't the only thing Ranma's dreadfully afraid of. He's also afraid of thunderstorms, at night, anyway, and despite how much I think last night probably shouldn't have happened, it was probably for the best, all things considered. Just thinking about it, Ranma lying on a couch, in a place he's not used to sleeping in, and with a thunderstorm going on, he'd never get any sleep. The only question is: Why the hell am I suddenly caring for him so much?! The whole "I'm afraid of thunderstorms! Please hold me!" thing could've just been an act for all I knew! Why am I trusting this guy? Why am I trusting A GUY?! Okay…okay…I've gotta calm down…nothing happened, although it might've just been that he was too tired to pull anything. Then again, why the act if he couldn't pull anything? Maybe he was just being stupid…maybe I'm just overreacting. I AM OVERREACTING! Hell, I can't control the way I think about boys anymore…I have to remember that I'm giving Ranma a chance…he's giving me a chance too, we're giving each other a chance. Why should I think he'd even have any interest in doing anything like that, before this whole thing he gave every indication he didn't. That could change, since things are indeed changing for us, but I doubt that thing in particular would change so quickly. There was the dance, my memory's all screwed up, it was a wonderful evening, we had a good time, Ranma turned out to be a pretty good dancer and even taught me a couple moves. Why am I getting so suspicious about him all of the sudden-it just must be my nature, it seems to be getting the better of me right now, like Ranma's fear of thunderstorms, I have a fear of boys trying to take advantage of me, and I just can't seem to help it.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
That Night:  
  
Akane couldn't sleep…another thunderstorm was happening.  
  
'Dammit! Ranma's probably fine! He's been alone in his room through thunderstorms before! He can handle it!'  
  
Why one half of her brain was saying that, the other half was saying:  
  
'But Ranma's probably even worse now because he knows he could go to you, but also knows it's dangerous.'  
  
'Damn right it's dangerous! We'll kill him if he does!'  
  
'Killing is wrong, comforting him in this time of need is good!'  
  
"STOP ARGUING CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP!!"  
  
'So is Ranma, but he won't be able to until you at least lay on the floor or something in his room so you can reassure him that everything's okay.'  
  
With that, Akane, got up, almost ripping her door off the wall, and Ranma's when she came in.  
  
"DAMMIT RANMA! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO LET ME KNOW YOU WERE AFRAID OF THESE THINGS! NOW I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP KNOWING THAT YOU'RE IN HERE CLUTCHING TIGHTLY ON YOUR BLANKET, TRYING TO MAKE THE DAMN THING GO AWAY! NOW I CAN'T SLEEP WITH THAT ON MY CONCIENCE!"  
  
"A-Akane, pl-please leave, I don't w-want to go through th-this morning again…"  
  
"YOU LOOK SO PATHETIC I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! NOW I'M GOING TO AT LEAST SLEEP IN HERE SO THAT I CAN BE SURE YOU'RE ALRIGHT! I'LL SLEEP ON THE FLOOR IF I HAVE TO!"  
  
'NOW THAT'S THE SPIRIT!'  
  
"SHUT THE HELL UP VOICE IN MY HEAD!"  
  
'She's totally lost it!' Ranma observed.  
  
"Yeah, just do that, okay, just please stop shouting, you're gonna wake…everyone up…"  
  
Akane was already lying unconscious on the floor.  
  
The only reason Ranma was able to sleep now was because his the whole ordeal was making his head hurt too much when he was awake.  
  
Author's conclusion: Well, I think I vented a few of my own frustrations into this chapter. You wanted Akane to have mood swings, how about these ones, huh? Yeah, I went a little crazy, I might have to change some things for 2.0 here, but then again perhaps you guys liked this little journey into Akane's insanity. Just tell me in the reviews, okay? 


	11. Entry 11

Christine:  
  
*Chuckles* Well i'm sure we all can see that akane was worried about ranma,perhaps she was alittle too crazy!lol Can't wait till next chapter.   
  
&  
  
Mary:   
  
Akane's perfect. She's insane as usual. And she cares about Ranma too, which is good. Yes, very good indeed.   
  
Response: It's so difficult finding that balance. And now that I've found it, I'm suddenly afraid…NOW I HAVE TO KEEP IT GOING! DOH!  
  
Anime Goddess:  
  
luv yer story keep it comin thanx fer updating i luv yer story!   
  
Response: I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday, by the way, I was really busy, and I'd like to kind of think of it as taking a break from writing this. I've done a little research on Kenpo which is according to the manga at least one of the styles that Ranma uses ("Do you know Kenpo?" "A little…"). If anyone has any info on what other styles of Martial Arts Ranma and Akane use, please feel free to share so I can make the later training chapters as accurate as possible.  
  
BlazeStryker:  
  
Ya know, people's biochemistry aren't all the same.rnrnI say this, as we also gain tastes in food to match the biochemical needs, given half a chance.rnrnAkane may be a bit.. 'off' from most people in terms of nutritional and biochemical needs.rnrnSure would explain her cooking, no?rnrnLater.   
  
Response: Thanks for the biology lesson. Actually, it reminds me that Akane's cooking will have to be addressed at some point, I think at least in the original draft her cooking was brought up, now I'm going to have to look back @ chapter one and hope to God I didn't skip over that little tidbit at the start, otherwise it'll probably be the one most major change to ver. 2.0. I also know about the whole "change of tastes ever seven or so years" thing-I think someone I know told me that before, not sure who.  
  
Z:  
  
other than out of character moments(which i do find refreshing 50% of the time) It's a great story so far. One question though, about the Akane bisexual thing? Is that just part of the story, or am I stupid and haven't read far enough into the series? I know that's a completely moronic question, but that's just how it is I guess. Good job.   
  
Response: It's a story element, in fact, a back-story element at that. It's something completely outside of the series, so don't worry, I'm the one completely obvious to about everything that happened after the first season. And: What about the other 50%? lol  
  
Butterfly:   
  
Sorry that I didn't review the last update. I kinda didn't know what to say. You said something big was going to happen and I just didn't think it was that big at the time... But as I see it now, it might get much more interesting in time. rnI loved the last part to this chapter, made me lough out loud. Akane is moody, you can't help that. Though the strange thing is that Ranma is supposed to sleep in the same room as Genma in the series (and manga). Where is Genma now?   
  
Response: Genma is probably sharing a room with Soun, maybe anticipating something like that happening, I don't know. Or maybe having his own room was a "present" for his 18th birthday. Really, you can make your own guesses, it's something I as an author leave to my readers to determine. lol  
  
On another note, I suppose there may just be questions about some other characters, such as Happosai, Cologne, Akari, and Konatsu. These characters I do not know too much about at all, so I don't think there'd be too much point trying to portray them at all. I've seen the movies, but only once each, and all I can remember is the times when Ranma "proudly" called Akane his fiancé, Happosai's obsession with panties, and Cologne constantly called Ranma her "future son-in-law". Since I'm having a hard time as it is portraying the characters I DO know about, it'd be futile to try and even think of portraying these characters, even given the info off the site I went to in order to figure out who these characters were. Also, there is the character of Ranma's mother, I've read about her in a few fan fictions, and done some research at that same website, but the same thing applies: I don't know enough about her to make more than a reference or just have her show up closer to the wedding as a "guest", or something.  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: None  
  
Anyway, on to the story:  
  
Akane was sleeping quite soundly when she felt someone nudging her awake.  
  
"I can't believe I'm doing this!" a familiar voice said, "Akane! Wake up! Unless you want to miss your last day of school!"  
  
'Ranma? What's he doing here?' She thought, then thankfully was not in a violent enough mood to take action before remembering.  
  
"Ranma, remember next time I come in here and pass out on the floor to go to my room and fetch my alarm clock."  
  
"You could bring it with you yourself, if there is a next time."  
  
"Yeah, right, what time is it?"  
  
"Almost breakfast time, c'mon, I'll help you up."  
  
"No, no, I'll be fine."  
  
"Don't trust me?"  
  
"No, it's just that I trust I'll be able to get up by myself."  
  
And that she did.  
  
"I don't need your help for everything."  
  
"Yeah, but I need your help to get to sleep during a thunderstorm, apparently."  
  
"You aren't mad about that, are you?"  
  
"Dito."  
  
"Dito?"  
  
"You seemed rather mad yourself last night. Can I ask a personal question?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Are you schizophrenic or something?"  
  
"…"  
  
"It's just that whole 'Shut up voice-in-my-head!' thing…and I've seen A Beautiful Mind, you know…"  
  
"…"  
  
"It's a joke."  
  
"Really…"  
  
"No, not really…but if it were, it wouldn't be a good one."  
  
"Ranma, let's just have breakfast."  
  
"Alrighty…"  
  
After a quick breakfast, they headed out to go to school.  
  
Ranma was walking on the fence again.  
  
"Why do you always do that?"  
  
"It helps me practice my balance, that's a very important skill, particularly in Kenpo."  
  
"Well, it seems you've got it down."  
  
"Can't hurt really. I'd like to see you try it."  
  
"That would take quite a long time, to get where you're at, anyway, not even needing to use your arms."  
  
"Who says I'm not using my arms?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I may not be sticking them out, but I have to keep them in balance. Every part of my body has to be in constant balance. The arms, legs, torso, you get the picture?"  
  
"Makes sense."  
  
"I suppose it isn't really necessary to be able to balance on a fence, it could be anything, something simpler, even."  
  
"I'm not really that sure I want to learn it."  
  
"There's a lot you need to learn if you're really serious about your art. Because although you're undoubtedly very good, the fact that you can't even manage to hit me, I mean, without creating some kind of unfair distraction, speaks volumes."  
  
"Maybe sometime later."  
  
"Yeah, we'd probably better work on your cooking, first."  
  
"Ranma, I thought…"  
  
"I think I may have wrote something about ways of improving it…"  
  
"Ukyo or Kasumi?"  
  
"Kasumi would be closer to home, in fact in-home. Ukyo, however, is a lot better and can teach you a whole lot more, yet she may be hard to convince and either you'd have to go to her every day or she'd have to come to us. Considering that she runs a restaurant, the former would probably be the way to go."  
  
"We can talk about it later, we're here."  
  
Fortunately, the guys how used to fight Akane had given up the battle long ago, and now with news of the engagement out in the open, it was obviously hopeless, anyway.  
  
"C'mon, we don't want to be late!"  
  
With that, they went for their last day of school.  
  
Author's Conclusion: Really, there's not much to say about what happens during the day that day, but considering that the next entry will have journals, they'll likely outline anything I come up with. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, like all the chapters before, and I'll try to update again soon. 


	12. Entry 12

Goku90504:  
  
rnrnit is fannon with a **little** cannon support that akane is bi but see's liking girls as bad which would go along way to explaning akane's angar with perverts because she angrey with herself for being a pervert but wont admit it.  
  
Response: First off, please in the future if you're going to quote something from my review responses, don't post the entire thing, just what pertains to what you're talking about, if anything. Plus, try to type a little slower, so you can catch your typos before clicking the "submit" button. I think you're trying to say something like Akane has this deep emotional thing because she likes-likes girls…I may have to do something in this journal entry, perhaps, although steering to the topic of it will be a challenge. There is a back story, which I think in the original draft would've already been brought up by now. I suppose it is a valid theory that Akane herself has been rather hypocritical with Ranma in the case of the story, although I never really gave much thought to it. The idea of Akane being bi in the first place was perverted on my part, and that's all I'm going to say for now (except there will be NO extreme lemon content in this fic).  
  
I'm rather pleased that the site got the chapter posted so quick, so now I have something to respond to in order to start off this chapter, and an idea of one topic I touch on. Or…I have no idea, I can't see Chapter 11 up on the site yet, weird… O_o  
  
Ver.: 2.0  
  
Update: Changed "a" to "another", I hope that adds perhaps a bit more clarity to the concept that Akane's bisexuality was really only limited to that one event in her life. Also, a smother transition into the topic, and a little more talking about what happened at school.  
  
June 2nd, 2003: I'M FREE! AT LAST! I'M FRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! That is, unless my old man makes me go to college or something. I doubt that considering he seems to want me to run the dojo or maybe even start my own at some point in the now-all-too-near future. Still, it beats taking classes everyday, I guess. Tomorrow's graduation, and I'm not so excited about that since I'm already officially out of school. The whole things just a long ceremony with speeches about how this notes a passage in time, a new part to our lives, crap like that. It's hard to believe that some of the actual students wrote this stuff! Well, I could believe last year when Kuno did the speech, but that's another story altogether, although maybe it does have something to do with why I've started to find graduation ceremonies boring. On top of all that, Kuno's returning to make an alumni speech, at least he's written a different one, although I doubt it's going to be any better or any more interesting than last year. He could really be useful during a thunderstorm, I could have him come over and make a speech, then I'd fall straight asleep.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
All these people, I don't think I'll see many of them again, there have been a few girls I knew that left to go to another town or school…which reminds me of her. Of course, it also reminds me that maybe it's getting at least closer to the time I should tell Ranma about me being bisexual. The more I delay, however, the more hesitant about it I seem to become, so sooner may perhaps be better as opposed to later, for me, and perhaps Ranma even. If I tell him now, at least I'll have been honest AND straightforward, as opposed to keeping it a secret from him for a long period of time. As for me, I think it would be better because the closer we seem to get, the more afraid I become of the secret causing it to all be lost. Better to say it now when I've got less to lose, I suppose. The whole thing is just a little weird…it was before I even met Ranma. Did I mention this before a couple entries back? I can't remember, I do know I wrote something back then, maybe I should look in some of my earlier journals to reflect back on it. I met this girl, I think it was my freshman year, we were good friends, really close…we only made out once, though…that's when I figured it out…I knew I had feelings for Dr. Tofu, and for that girl too, so it was obvious what I was. It never happened again, though…and she moved away during that summer. I never heard from or saw her again. I've never felt anything close to that for another girl except, well…Ranma of course isn't a girl…but he can change into one, and if he'd be willing to experiment…well, I'm getting ahead of myself. That isn't going to even be a possibility until the honeymoon. And the feelings aren't strong enough…damn I hate it when I start thinking crap like that! Why can't I just be a normal girl?! Oh well, the school day was just wrapping up a few final tests and taking pictures and such, not too much more eventful than any other day of school, it just happened to be the last one.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
Author's conclusion: Well, that's it for today. It's a little short, but I'll make up for it with some third-person stuff tomorrow. Including a sonne…err…speech, by Kuno. 


	13. Entry 13

Butterfly: Don't worry about other characters, you don't have to have them all. I mean, even Takahashi doesn't put all of them in every single episode... rnI liked the entries, though I guess Akane would be talking about her last school day too, not only about he being bisexual (which seemed a bit unconnected to the rest of the story at this point). Oh well, hope you update soon!   
  
Response: Probably something I'll add in 2.0, once that I come up with stuff that would happen. I found from my own last day of school that's it's fairly uneventful, maybe some final tests, but those are for the most part probably gotten out of the way by then so the Seniors can really enjoy the day. Still, I find that it was almost boringly average for me, so Akane might just feel the same way about it, and she never really mentions school days in other entries, except for things that she finds unusual during the day, such as Nabiki hatching her "plan". Since nothing particularly usual happened that day (in this version, anyway, 2.0 may have a revision, as stated before), she doesn't really note the events of the day.  
  
The review from yesterday was a bit weird, as I said, but I received an e-mail from the reviewer showing that there was a lot more in it, and after asking what the hell fannon and cannon mean, which I'll also outline for people like myself who have no idea, I'll give responses.  
  
Fannon: Unofficial things, usually coming from fan fiction, perceived to be actually come from the series.  
  
Cannon: Official information, from the anime and/or manga and/or creator.  
  
Now  
  
Goku90504's full review: your right it is hard to do akane i have an uncanny ability to figure out how well written stories are going to go because i understand many differently personalty types much better that collage grad psychologist but even i have trouble with Akane  
  
Response: The one poor thing about spell-checkers is that you still have to go over what you wrote to make sure you didn't type the wrong words, like "that" instead of "than" and "collage" instead of "college". Anyway, my mom majored in psychology @ ISU, she hasn't gotten a post-grad or whatever it's called degree, but she plans on getting one perhaps at some point in the future. I have done a little research into psychology, although it's mostly just from the diagnostic criteria, and most of it is about my dissorder: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for a thesis paper on whether or not Godzilla has it (something I did in 8th grade for a project, lol).  
  
Also, in the e-mail explaining cannon/fannon, you mentioned that Akane has some kind of fear of being raped, which makes sense on some kind of level, however considering that Ranma's mainly just supposed to be a fun series, that's just too much deep angst to really incorporate in the story. Consequently, I'll go no deeper than the boyophobia concept.  
  
there is almost no cannon info on the styles Ranma uses other than kempo and amazon wu shu which is most of his advanced stuff like the hiru shonta ha any ways the style anything goes is supposed to be a mix of a lot of different styles with out the weakness of each style with kempo as the base style and even that is mostly fannon as far as i know some one did calculations on cannon info and it seem with the kactu tenshin amaguri ken he can punch faster than sound and can pick up something like 2 ton's (i might be off on that as its been along time since i read those calculations but i clearly remember that he punches faster than sound)   
  
Respone: I went to a site that had those calculations (looks it up): http://www.wot-club.org.uk/RanmaFAQ/  
  
"Ranma could lift 15 tons - though not necessarily hold it for a long time"  
  
Specific Page: http://www.wot-club.org.uk/RanmaFAQ/arts/ranma.html  
  
I'm still planning on continuing to study the kenpo (that's how it's spelled, I think…unless there's one style spelled kenpo, and other spelled kempo, which is seriously confusing, and then I just wasted a bunch of printer paper. lol) information.  
  
it's cannon that akane can not cook well even with detailed instructions there are many fannon reasons given but as far as i know there is no cannon reason my favorite fannon reason is that she has some sort of curse on her to prevent her from having house wife skill's while making her blind to the fact but as i said this a fannon reason not cannon the cannon does not give a reason as far as i know   
  
Response: Here I'll be basing it purely of cannon, except for maybe the instructions part, but she'll be taken under the wing of the best cooker in the world (Ukyo), so there might just be hope…but the whole curse thing would make even that impossible, unless there would be some way to remove it.  
  
it is fannon with a **little** cannon support that akane is bi but see's liking girls as bad which would go along way to explaining akane's anger with perverts because she angry with herself for being a pervert but wont admit it   
  
Response: I already responded to this particular part, but now I know what fannon with a *little* cannon support means. Still, there isn't much else to say that I haven't already.  
  
Gohan22:Why the hell did you make akane bisexual?! How does that relate to the story?   
  
Response: She mentioned it before, just not in incredible detail…maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it so soon…it pertains to late late late late late in the story. I've discussed this in other review responses, and perhaps you're just homophobic, although I must admit I do not necessarily condone these kinds of things, I just write about them because they have apparently become part of our modern society. I really just wanted to introduce it early on because it just needed to be discussed at some point, that's all. I guess I did write it at a fairly unusual moment, I thought that just starting the entry with the whole issue straight off would help make it work better so I wouldn't have to flow from one subject into an entirely different subject. Unfortunately, it seemed to backfire on me by making it seem totally out of place when there was no particular event or anything to make her go into thought about her sexual orientation. This will probably be another thing to put on my list of stuff to add-in for version 2.0.  
  
I think I might start making some 2.0 changes starting today, the chapter after this, if I have time to write it, will indicate whether or not the update has been made.  
  
Ver: 2.0  
  
Update: Any revisions to this chapter will take place after additional feedback is received, thank you.  
  
"We're moving on and we can't slow down, these memories are playing like a film without sound, and I keep thinking of that night in June. I didn't know much of love, but it came too soon…" -Vitamin C.  
  
Graduation:  
  
"…and once beyond the confines of Furikan High, you will discover a vast world of possibilities, and opportunities. And while one may think this is a simple change, alas, for it is not…"  
  
The snores rung loudly through the vast auditorium, while the people in the school administration and staff listened with pride.  
  
"…but the road goes on, the road goes on…"  
  
The aforementioned people started the applause, which woke up the students whole started applauding and cheering not because the speech was good, but rather because it was over.  
  
"Thank you." Kuno said before leaving the stage and taking a seat next to the other guest speakers.  
  
The rest of the graduation ceremony was not too much more than waiting for the row in front of them to sit so they can stand up and then wait for their own names to be called. Nabiki once again has worked her magic to insure that Ranma and Akane would end up sitting next to each other in the seating arrangement, however, they could only really talk before and after the graduation ceremony. It was kinda cute, though, when Ranma had his head on Akane's shoulder when he was sleeping. Of course, it kind of irritated Akane, but she feel asleep just in time to not act on that irritation.  
  
Ranma and Akane finally had their names called and their pictures taken, and returned to their seats to await the end of the ceremony, and when that was done, they said goodbye to their friends and headed home.  
  
When they got there, Akane asked Ranma to meet her in her room, because she had something she wanted to tell him.  
  
After putting his diploma and everything in a safe place in his room, he walked over to Akane's room and knocked on the door.  
  
"If you're Ranma, you can come in, if you're anyone else, please leave a message."  
  
Ranma opened the door.  
  
"You don't want anyone else in here?"  
  
Akane hung a "do not disturb" sign up outside and locked the door.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Uh…you're making me nervous now…"  
  
"Don't worry, I'd have to kill myself if I did anything of the things you're probably thinking of right now. I'm just locking the door so no one can interrupt what I'm going to say to you. I might add that if you tell anyone…well, it just goes without saying."  
  
Ranma was wired more than an undercover agent now.  
  
"Great! I haven't even told you and you're already freaking out! THIS IS NOT HELPING MY SITUATION!" Akane said, "And now I'm freaking out which is freaking out you even more and it's a treacherous circle. Ranma, for my sake, please calm down!"  
  
"Uh…I'll try…"  
  
"Ranma, I'm bi."  
  
"What, you're leaving or something?"  
  
"BISEXUAL DAMMIT! DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT!!"  
  
Ranma was silent.  
  
"Sorry, I forget you didn't go to the school until Junior year, and Health class was a sophmore course."  
  
"I took health class in middle school, so I know what the "sexual" part means…"  
  
"You're IQ may be higher than I thought it was, but missing however many years of education during your training trip is obviously enough for me to continue calling you a baka."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Well, you're a semi-baka, maybe not a full-fledged and hopeless baka."  
  
"Whatever, I still don't know what that whole buysexual thing means."  
  
"It means I like both guys and girls."  
  
"I thought you hated guys…"  
  
"But I had a thing for Dr. Tofu and now there's this really weird thing with you I can't explain…"  
  
"You mean you LIKE LIKE girls?"  
  
"Well, there was only one…way back…I guess maybe it might not have been enough to really earn that label, but I know I'm capable of having strong feelings for a girl-and, well…I wouldn't have too many problems about getting physically intimate with one, I mean…one that I would have strong feelings for."  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that you have a thing for my girl-form?"  
  
"NO! It's just that if you would for some reason want to do something like that after we get married, it'd be okay, you wouldn't have to hesitate unless you had problems with it yourself…personally, I'd have no problems if you didn't either, I'm just saying in case…and I feel it's important that you know about this sooner as opposed to later."  
  
"Well, I don't know if I'd…I mean, I really don't want to think about anything like that right now…it's too early…and you thought I was perverted all this time…"  
  
"Hey! I'm just nervous about it, okay! I was afraid you'd freak out or something! So I wanted to tell you before things got to a point where I'd have a lot to lose something like that!"  
  
"Akane, I'm sorry…I'm a bit confused about all this myself…we may be adults, but we're still teenagers, we still don't know quite how to sort out our feelings."  
  
"Ranma, could you go now, I want to be alone now…"  
  
"Alright…but could you unlock the door first…"  
  
Akane did that, and Ranma left, leaving the sign up because obviously she was in no condition to be disturbed by anyone, and really, neither was he…  
  
Author's Conclusion: No that took a lot out of me…making the characters emotional just makes me emotional. *breaks into tears* WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LOVE EACH OTHER! *sobs* 


	14. Entry 14

Mary: Woah. Akane's bisexual. You know even though she's always been a "man-hater," I've never seen her as liking girls. I mean I hate boys, but I don't "hate" boys. See what I mean?  
  
I hope that Chapter 13 kind of makes up for all of that by explaining that idea a little more. It was just one incident, and she's a bit uncomfortable about that, I also have made some changes to the chapter to make it sound more natural and to put a slightly higher emphasis on the fact that she's never felt that way for another girl since then. I also had a very inspired way of making her remember about it, so go and read up on a few of the changes, each is pointed out, so you can probably just skip over to the parts I indicate as having changed. Future chapters will be referred to as Ver.: 2.0 when I receive feedback that indicates I could make a change. I made sure that all the changes were subtle enough as to not disturb the flow of the story.  
  
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's reviewed the story up to this point in offering me advice that I can use for these revisions.  
  
I'd also like to apologize, because I think I may have typed up about Akane being bi in one of the chapters where the program crashed and then forgot to mention it again when I re-typed it. I have no added it to any of the 2.0 revisions because for one I cannot remember where I wrote it originally, and for another thing it makes some sense that Akane would discus it in such a familiar sense, because it had been on her mind and she might, as I have, falsely believed she wrote it down before. lol  
  
Anyway, on to the journal entries regarding the events of the last chapter.  
  
June 3rd, 2003: I feel like a total baka now, not knowing what the hell Akane was talking about, that whole buysexual thing. I'm not sure, I think I might have thought about the possibilities once or twice (I did hear a few things while traveling about girls "doing it" with other girls, but never actually believed these things to be true up until now), I mean, how couldn't I? I always sorta tossed those thoughts aside, thinking Akane wouldn't go for that. Now she's telling me completely different…and she's right, I AM freaked out! I mean…I don't know about that whole girl thing…even as a guy, the idea of sleeping-sleeping with her makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe it's just the whole "save-it-for-marriage" thing my mom raised me with. Obviously, I just don't have those kinds of feelings for Akane yet, which should ease my fears a bit about everything going so fast. Although I suppose things are going a little faster than I'd like them to.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
I told him, and now I'm not really sure if I should've said anything at all…it was only that one time, and it was years ago, and I'm not even sure if that really makes me bisexual…other than no minding…well, that's something I'd rather save the thought for closer to the wedding, that is, if it'll happen at all. With things going as they are, I'm not at all certain what will happen. On yet another note, it seems that Ranma's a bit oblivious about any other type of sexuality but heterosexuality. Let another reason why thinking he's seriously perverted would be overestimating his intelligence. He's capable of learning, I'm sure, but he missed out on so many years of school that I'm surprised they actually allowed him to graduate.  
  
Author's conclusion: Yes, this is my shortest chapter yet, but I already did a whole update of all the other chapters, which should make up for that. I'll try and keep up writing two a day, and making updates when I feel necessary. I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far and are pleased with the updates. 


	15. Entry 15

Alagon :  
  
Nodoka 'sample the wares before buying' Saotome, raising ranma to 'save-it-for-marriage'!!  
  
Definately OOC. o0;;  
  
Response: Note to self-do some SERIOUS RESEARCH every time you want to make a character do who you know nothing about do something in a character's back story…crap, how the hell am I supposed to get outta this one? Uhm…that was his…uh…other mother…he had two!…  
  
*sweat drop*  
  
Or maybe she just changed a lot since back then…sorry, I don't have anything to base Ranma's mother on aside from my own mother. This could be considered another one of the "alternate universe" bits, but with something this obviously out-of-character and for reasons of my lack of character knowledge, and the fact that I really want to keep it to a minimum, well…who else would've raised him that way? Genma doesn't seem to be the type, although it could've been an Aunt or Uncle, although that could be adding too much stuff that could be contradicted to the back story. I'd rather like to stick with the "she's changed a lot since back then" theory.  
  
Goku90504:  
  
nice chapters anyways i think the difference between kenpo and kempo is the same as the difference between ryoga and ryouga basicly just the way you translate it from japanese to english it always sounded more like an m instead of an n to me so i type it kempo some think is sounds more link an n so they type it kenpo and your doing a great job with ranma and your akane is so far linear anyways as i said akane being bi is not cannon but then again ranma thinking about sex is also not cannon thats the whole point about fanfiction is to mix a little orignality into cannon personiltys but to keep them baiscly the same so that they are reconizable as the same charters  
  
Response: I've read the Manga, so I do believe it was spelled Kenpo, and my research backs this up. However, I should also look up Ryouga to make sure I am spelling his name right.   
  
Dogbert Carroll:  
  
Describing the characters as if they were actually fightingrnand throwing all the weird videogame martial arts movesrnbefore pulling back to show it was just a game wouldrnhave been a great scene. Action and comedy in one. Great idea.rnrnRyoga is the preferred spelling for pig boy so far as I know, andrnUkyou for spatula girl. I think it became somewhat the standardrnbecause five letters seems abought right for a name. More and werndrop the u, five or less we leave it in.rnrnAkane finding out a secret like that and just slappingrnRyoga and then apologizing? She's hit people with largernblunt objects and never apologized for a lot less thenrnsneaking into her bed and watching her change repeatedly.rnI'd suspect that the only way she would act like yournhave described her was if she was either heavilyrnmedicated or had just completed 5-10 years of therapy.rnEven Kasumi has described her as a violent maniac.rnrnGreat bit with Kuno. I can see him behaving like thatrnif he had finally settled on Nabiki as the girl hernwanted. I really want to see what Ranma says when Kunornasks abought the clothes. *grin*   
  
Response: Then I'd have to research all the combos and stuff for VF4, that would be more research than usual. Oh well…I don't think she apologized, she quote "forgave him", after slapping him so hard it gave him a black eye. I'm not certain quite how explicit I was about the fact that she didn't apologize, although she DID apologize after accidentally hurting Ranma in that one chapter…I forgot the specific number, but that was an accident, anyway. Her slapping Ryoga was NO accident.  
  
Additional Notes: I know I haven't been making updates for around three days now, but I've been busy doing stuff for my other creative projects. It might just be a good thing that I've taken a rather significant break from this, at least I hope it is. I'm also downloading episodes from Season 2. Right now I'm working on the first half of the season, which I'll then burn to Cds. Then I'll work on the second half, then procede to Season 3, and so on all the way to Season 7, which seems to be the latest season. This may take awhile…probably several weeks downloading and burning 11 episodes per day, then I have to go and actually watch them all. Those and the Excel Saga episodes I want to watch before I begin work on a fanfic called Excel Saga: Experimental Live Action Adaptation. So suffice it to say, I'm keeping myself quite busy this summer. lol  
  
I'd also like to note that this is my LONGEST fan fiction yet! Exceeding The Search For Sakuya and I'm hardly one third of the way through the story I want to tell! All I have to say is: WOW!   
  
I just realized how appropriate is that June 4th is being written on July 4th! lol  
  
Happy Fourth of July! Happy fourth of June to Akane and Ranma!  
  
Now on with the story (FINALLY!):  
  
"If anger's a gift, then I guess I've be blessed…" -Chester Bennington, Hybrid Theory EP, "Keep My Distance"  
  
June 4th, 2003: Akane is just a little stressed…excuse the under exaggeration. Of course, for all I know it's just normal Akane behavior for being "a little" stressed. She completely annihilated a perfectly good punching bag…then again if it can't withstand Akane, then we probably need a better one, I mean super high-quality, maybe something with a steel lining. I think she's not so angry at me, more at herself for saying what she did…maybe I should talk to her about it, tell her it's okay and stuff, but I'm afraid to go near her right now. Maybe tomorrow or something, oh, and on another note I might start next week writing entries on Wednesdays and Saturdays, whereas I think Akane does Tuesdays and Fridays during the summer.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?! Telling him right out like that, and not thinking about whether or not making out with a girl during my freshman year really makes me bisexual in the first place…I mean, I thought I was at the time…but looking back, I'm not sure, it could've just been a one-time thing. Now I'm not even sure if Ranma wants to talk to me at all. I probably shocked and disillusioned the guy, he didn't even know what bisexual meant! I've already said a lot of this stuff last entry, but that wasn't after really thinking about how much I probably screwed everything up! I'm so stupid! STUPID! STUPID!  
  
STUPIDly, Akane Tendo  
  
The Next Day:  
  
"Akane?"  
  
"Huh? Oh…uh…Hi Ranma…" Akane said, with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.  
  
"Are you…okay now? Not destroying anymore punching bags?"  
  
"No…"  
  
"I just wanted to say that I don't really care about that whole buysexual thing. And I also don't think that should be the key reason we get married if we get married. I mean, it's good to know, but I'd want to marry you because I'd love you, and not just because we'd be able to do more…stuff…well, you know what I mean…"  
  
"Well, I've been meaning to tell you that it wasn't really anything…I' m not sure if making out with another girl just one time in ninth grade really qualifies me…"  
  
"Whatever, I'd rather we save any further discussion for after we get married, or at least closer to the wedding, I mean…well, I suppose it's already established that everything we say is hypothetical to if we decide to proceed with it, so let's just talk like it is going to happen…it would save the trouble of constantly have to say, 'If we get married…'."  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Are you sure."  
  
"I'm just feeling a little tired, you know, from yesterday…"  
  
"I guess I can't blame you."  
  
Author's Conclusion: I just thought that I could write a chapter about Akane being angry at herself and stuff, just to show that side of her again, and to get the whole bisexual issue out of the way. I might write the next chapter, I'm a little bored today, anyway…but I think I might wait awhile, just to brainstorm what I'd write and stuff. So cya next chapter! 


	16. Entry 16

smilodon:  
  
Your story is pretty interesting, but the chapters are too short and it's becoming disjointed as a result. I don't mind you replying to reviews and what not, but you should take it as a warning sign when your replies are taking up more room than the new story.rnrnAt any rate, I am interested to see where you take this, but I suggest that you resist posting two paragraphs as a new chapter. I would much rather wait a few days to get 7 or 8 pages then to get this one page at a time.   
  
Response: Well, the story is really starting to slow down after the roller coaster start. I've never really been good with writing decent-sized chapters. Usually, my maximum is around three or so pages, and a few chapters have no shown reviews. Currently, there aren't very many eventful things going on, which means that if anything, I may have to resort to having multiple days' entries in a single chapter  
  
Gohan22:  
  
Dont make akane bisexual!Thats just wrong,even if she does not care about ranma's girl side.   
  
Response: Firstly, please do not ask me to do such a thing again, I will not change it beyond what I've already changed (i.e. her not being incredibly bisexual). Just trust me, this is going to play an important role later on in the story, as I believe I mentioned before, and as I also think I mentioned before, I cannot and will not remove key parts from the plot just to satisfy, and especially just one reader. If I were to change it, it would make a particularly dramatic part of the story not be possible, and that's all I'm going to say because I'd rather not spoil it and by constantly complaining about Akane's sexual orientation, you're pushing me to do so, so please don't!  
  
Mary:   
  
Ok Akane saying all the stuff she's said makes more sense now. And you got it right about how dense Ranma is. I think it's cute how he spells bisexual "buysexual." Nice touch.   
  
Response: Well, I read somewhere that Ranma was training for about ten years of his life, although some kind of education must've taken place because he would otherwise have no gotten into that situation with Ryouga. I think it may have been a fan fiction I read it in…I'm not entirely sure, so it may not even be accurate. But in any case it shows that more of his life was spent in training than in school, hence although he is perfectly capable of learning, he just hasn't been taught that much.  
  
Soju:  
  
Eh, well I'm not sure if you're still writing this fic, but anyways, whatever.rnAbout your questions on the spelling for Ryouga (you can tell already which one I prefer) I am inclined to think that romanization with the 'u' is probably more correct. And Ukyo.. well... do people actually spell Ukyo differently?rnKenpo, Kempo, doesn't really matter. I use Ken instead of Kem, because ken is the typical way to say fist/sword alone, and I don't see a whole lot of people saying kemshin, or shoryuukem or anything like that, using an example from Rurouni Ke(n)shin and Street Fighter respectively. Also, its practically always ken and not kem when used alone.rnAbout Akane's sexual preference, her being bisexual is nothing original, just sparse, and her being heterosexual is just basic assumption on the part of the majority of fanfic writers (at least who write Ranma/Akane, and also for non-lemon writers). It being cannon though... well... like the other guy said, sexuality (for Akane at least) isn't cannon. I was actually thinking of writing a Ranma fic, where there is a scene where Akane is comparing her sexuality to handedness. The majority of people are right-handed (straight people), some are left-handed (gay/lesbian people) and some are ambidexterous, (bisexuals). I was having Akane thinking of herself as ambisinister (of course meaning having practically no coordination, and there ARE people who have both hands function about as well as normal people's bad hand.) So she had practically no sexuality, not being especially attracted to either gender. It is also my belief that she has a very hard time thinking about being in an intimate situation with _anyone_, and would probably have to be sort of... trying to find an appropriate way to describe it (and failing quite horribly, as a 14 year old I don't have the vocabulary of someone older) led around the idea of being intimate with (Ranma/anyone else) like people who are extremely shy and need counseling to adjust to being around people.rnAnd finally to the subject of your writing -- I have only two major issues with it. In the scene where Akane went to Ranma's room during a thunderstorm, and yelled at herself, or more particularly, the normal voices in your head (I sure _hope_ their normal..) I was kinda confused about who exactly she was yelling at, and had to re-read it. Then again that could just be my problem with reading to fast. The second - your chapters are getting shorter and shorter! Come on man seriously... The actual story parts are getting about the size as 1/4th of a normal sized chapter (in my preference).rnSeeing as how this is the longest review I've ever written, even considering it's for 20k (or about 13k of story), I'm submitting it before I continue ranting into the night.rnPlease excuse any spelling mistakes as a result of this.rnHeh.   
  
Response: She's yelling at the voices in her head, the "devil" and "angel" Akanes, if you will. Kind of like the "devil" and "angel" versions of Excel in Excel Saga. Also like the ones I think I remember seeing in at least one episode of the sitcom Full House. It's a stereotypical thing, but I didn't really play on it as a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, because it's so cliché. Rather, that's how you should look at it as far as what the voices are saying.  
  
The voice that said "Now that's the spirit!" was the angel voice, and Akane was responding to it, even though Ranma could obviously not hear it. That's why he thought she was going nuts…well, part of why he thought she was going nuts.  
  
On the subject of Akane, it's kind of true, and it may be something I'll play with a bit more about Akane's psyche. How she's afraid of getting close to someone, yet she seems to be getting closer and closer to Ranma and how that starts to frighten her or something like that.  
  
Soju:  
  
One more thing however, I feel I have to say...rnI suck at Virtua Fighter. I broke my PS2 controller by throwing it against the ground after repeatedly losing ranking kumite matches.rnThen again, I'm the king of Tekken. Seriously. I can wavedash easily.   
  
Response: Yes, I can beat Tekken 4 with all of the characters (on Easy mode, mind you), albeit after doing my Chester Bennington impersonation (he's the vocalist for Linkin Park, for you people who aren't as ridiculously big fans of them as I am, he likes to scream), and focusing my hatred of the final boss's diaper costume in order to beat him. lol  
  
Alanna: The way you arrange your writings is getting on my nerve. I'd rather get on with the story than figuring out where the actual story starts. (And it's getting shorter everyday as you spend more and more time than making reviews of your own)You started out wonderful. Please keep it that way...!   
  
Response: As I said, I'm probably going to start multiple entries/multiple days per-chapter and continue making third-person story elements an integral part of the story telling. Just lately I've gotten a bit lazy writing the chapters, that plus I'm relating to the start of the summer, and in real life, the summer starts out really slow and there isn't much to speak about event-wise. I'm just adding a touch of reality, if you will. But, of course, that is no excuse. I could've still added more entries about the boring events, and that I will in this chapter.  
  
June 6th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
I probably had nothing to worry about. I just got all worked up over nothing, Ranma's okay with the whole thing…although I'm still not sure about myself being okay with it…in any case, I should stop worrying about it, as Ranma said, at least until closer to the wedding. He also said we should probably just start talking about it like it is going to happen, especially considering that it's looking like it might actually happen. I mean, Ranma and I have managed to get along pretty good so far, hell, I even seem to care about his welfare, and only after a little less than a couple weeks. How is that even possible? I think I just went insane that day, or something…I don't know. It used to be so easy, just hating him, but now I don't know what I feel at all, just that I can probably rule out hate now-been there, done that, got the official "I Hate Ranma" T-Shirt. At least I still have a sense of humor, that's good to know. Well, tomorrow Ranma's going to go see Kuno at Ukyo's restaurant, I hope it goes well. Meanwhile, the summer's getting off to it's traditional slow start, and I'm bored as hell, and all my confused feelings aren't helping either because all I ever get to do is try sorting them out. Maybe I should get some practice in today, destroy a few concrete bricks, or perhaps play some video games…watch some movies, just do SOMETHING with all this free time.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
June 7th, 2003:  
  
Lunch with Kuno:  
  
"First things first, I have to admit to having searched through your room…that will help to explain the nature of some of the questions I am about to ask you." Kuno said.  
  
"Let me guess, Nabiki gave you the key?" Ranma asked in reply.  
  
"Yes, actually…"  
  
"Go figure."  
  
"Well, I was looking for anything that might link you with black magic, I believe you are aware of my suspicions."  
  
"Yes, quite."  
  
"Well I did not find anything, and Nabiki assured me that you were not informed in advance. I had little reason not to believe her."  
  
"Well, if anything, Nabiki rarely ever lies, she hides the truth whenever she can, and does things without permission, but I don't recall too many instances of her lying…then again, there was…well, okay, maybe a few times. But more often than not, she tells the truth."  
  
"Indeed. But what I came here to ask, well, the main thing I came her to inquire about is why you have so many women's clothes in your closet? I have thought many ill things of you, but I never thought you'd be a cross-dresser, that is, until my recent discovery."  
  
"They're not my clothes, they're my sister's." Ranma said, having been preparing for such a question since Kuno said he'd looked through his room.  
  
"You're sister's? I wasn't aware you had…"  
  
"You've met her before, the 'tree borne kettle girl'."  
  
"She is your sister?! So it was brotherly protection that made you dislike my relationship with her?"  
  
"Well, that and because she isn't really into guys…"  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"You know…"  
  
"You mean she's a-?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"MY TWO LOVES! BOTH NOW DENIED TO ME! HOW CAN I POSSIBLY-"  
  
BONK!  
  
Kuno got a firm hit to the head with a frying pan.  
  
"Thanks, I think I needed that…"  
  
"You're quite welcome. Here's your lunch." Ukyo said, handing them their plates.  
  
"I guess since I'm going to Tokyo soon, I'll just have to let it go…"  
  
"Ukyo must've bonked you on the head pretty good…"  
  
"No, I've been preparing for this moment since I graduated. Sometimes I think I haven't prepared well enough, and perhaps I haven't. Nonetheless, I have to face reality…"  
  
"AND IT'S ABOUT DAMN TI-"  
  
BONK!  
  
"Ow…what'd you do that for?"  
  
"For not being very polite."  
  
"You don't discriminate, do you?"  
  
BONK!  
  
"OW! OKAY! OKAY! I'm sorry!"  
  
"I think I feel much better now…" Kuno said.  
  
"I wish I could say the same…"  
  
"I any case, I wish you, Akane, and your sister only the best…although as for my own sister, well, I've already spoken with her…I doubt she'll be too much of a problem, she's also going to Tokyo U this coming fall."  
  
"It's almost too easy…"  
  
"Well, I must go now. Farewell."  
  
With that, Kuno got up and left, without another word.  
  
June 7th, 2003: Kuno never even ate anything, that's the weird part…aside from the fact that all he seemed to want to know was about the girls' clothing I have in my closet. I told him a half-truth, said they belonged to my sister, and also told him my sister wasn't into guys…not sure what the term is for that, but I think he got the gist of it. He's totally moving on, maybe just thanks to a good bonk on the head by Ukyo, then I got a couple as well for quote, "being rude,". Whether I deserved that or not is beyond the point. The point is, Kuno and his sister now seem to be out of the picture, and Ukyo as well. I managed to also talk her into teaching Akane how to cook properly, which I hope is not going to be an impossible task, otherwise we'll either have to continue living with our parents (which seems to be what they expect us to do, anyway, but…), or hire our own cook. Both options don't sound too pleasing, so I'm hoping this plan is going to work. The ease of everything is starting to scare me, but then I have to remember that the whole plan could still go wrong in lots of different places, so the challenge is keeping it all running smoothly. As far as the feelings I have for Akane right now, I'm not sure, and I doubt Akane is either. All either of us know is that it's very different from the way things were before.  
  
Author's Conclusion: I hope I made the chapter long enough. It's about five pages, including the reviews, but I think that's about average for my chapter lengths even early on. I'll try to keep it up, and also the entries will probably discuss a lot more because each covers a longer period of time now. 


	17. Entry 17

Goku90504:  
  
dude ranma knows how to cook very well i belive it's cannon that he is almost  
  
as good as kasumi in the kitchen and on a campfire he's better than she would  
  
be(give that she has almost no experence with such cooking and thats the  
  
majority of ranma's experence)  
  
Response: I'll have to correct that in an update, and probably change the reason for him wanting Akane to cook well as being laziness and perhaps just the whole traditional woman's role thing. It could also be based on him fearing that Akane would insist on cooking meals herself. It could very well be a combination of these things.  
  
Wlah:  
  
Heya. It's a nice story so far, a bit oocness but nothing to go O_o over.rnI'd like to inform you that ranma actually CAN cook. In Ranma OVA series episode 3; Akane vs. Ranma, there's a lot about akane's cooking. Also Akane cant swim for the life of her.. Just thought you'd like to know :)rnI'm not sure wherever you're 100% aware of ranma's fear of cats but to clarify things : He, when exposed enough to cats, turn into one himself. But only Akane can make him "return" to his original state, In a particular scene ranma kisses akane in his cat state (their first kiss). Again just fyi.rnDont use Happosai or Cologne..Unless you want to totally mess up the rythm of the series and add a LOT of madness... And when are we going to hear more from Shampoo/Mousse?rnKeep  
  
writin'! ;)  
  
Response: On the subject of Ranma's fear of Cats (and later in the review responses I have a list of fears, and although I've heard Ranma's fear called Nekophobia, amongst the long list of words for the fear of cats, Neko is not one of them, it's probably something to do with a Japanese or Chinese term. In any case, the whole fear thing is just a side note, just a comparison to his fear of storms.  
  
Lishen:  
  
It be great if you have some lines to separate the story from your  
  
Acknowledgements  
  
Response: I've worded this many ways, but basically, I'm not willing to go back and update all my chapters for the mere reason of adding a line between the reviews and the story. Another reason is that in each chapter I'm certain I start it off with the date of what's happening, or some title for the event I'm about to tell about. I think it's already obvious enough when the story starts. So unless I receive a large number of serious complaints about it, I will not make the change.  
  
The Great Mohaj:  
  
Hey gamer, rnJust offering some support to your literary efforts. I enjoy  
  
reading your fics and hope you continue. Question: How about a few 'journal  
  
entries' from Ukyo and/or Shampoo discussing their current lovelives? Just an  
  
idea, I for one would like to know Ukyo's reasons for giving up on Ran-chan.  
  
Keep writing.rnrnMohaj  
  
Response: Shampoo is kind of A.W.O.L from the story right now, basically whereabouts: unknown. And that's the way I want to keep things until Mousse's training is done. Also, just seeing the first season and the two movies and reading a few fanfics isn't really enough for me to confidently write something that goes deep into Shampoo's psyche. But Ukyo, I may yet write an entry from her.  
  
TetsuoTsubushi:  
  
Akane seems about right, but ranma sounds like a huge wuss, even more than he  
  
is. plus it's spelt mousse. anyway keep going  
  
Response: Okay, this is the third time I've had to respond to all these questions, and I'm answering this one first because it's where I left off last time and I was doing some phobia research, which I shall mention once again. Okay, firstly I, like Ranma am relatively brave, not afraid of many things, horror movies don't scare me that much, I occasionally jump in my seat, but never really scream. But I have a significant fear of bees while I'm indoors, but not so much when I'm outdoors and can simply dodge away from them. But I really freak out when I encounter one indoors, there is less room for me to get away, It's usually a public place, so I can't really move too much without making an incredible fool of myself (although I usually do, anyway). Now this is all assuming that you are referring to Ranma's fear of storms, and for anyone else who might find that seriously out-of-character.  
  
Now, let me do the whole phobia thing.  
  
My fear is Apiphobia (fear of bees, another term for it is Melissophobia, and the fear of wasps is Spheksophobia) combined with a sudden claustrophobia. So you could call it Apiclaustrophobia (essentially a fear of bees in closed spaces).  
  
Now Ranma's fear would be Brontophobia (fear of storms and lightning), which is combined with Nyctophobia (a fear of darkness or night), which could be called Brontonyctophobia (appropriately a fear of storms during the night).  
  
These fears are identical in the way that they are both rather illogical and extreme fears carried by otherwise fearless guys, both of which also are conditional, albethem for entirely different reasons.  
  
Thanks to www.phobialist.com for the info on different phobia names.  
  
If you are referring to him being a little more negotiable with people, it's just because of the situation he's in. He's got too much going on in that unusually small brain of his to really want to fight anyone.  
  
Mary:  
  
You're doing a fantastic job. I didn't think Kodachi wouuld give up so easily,  
  
since she is a basket-case. Maybe Akane needs to beat her up. Hehe.  
  
Response: Well, like all the characters who don't seem to play a huge role, I really don't know too much about Kodachi. I've only seen the first season, and although she appears, for one the last time I watched those later episodes was quite some time ago, perhaps I should watch them again, but I'm too busy writing an incredibly inaccurate fan fic to do that. lol Plus I think that it'd be too hard to give a character who only appears at least once (that I've seen, anyway) in the series that much of a role.  
  
Jennyjennai:  
  
I have read all 16 chapters of your fic. I must say that I really liked it. It  
  
was easy to read and the story seems to be evolving slowly but smoothly. I  
  
understand about not writing in characters that you aren't familiar with, I  
  
think every fanfiction writer tends to do that. I won't say anything negative  
  
about your fic as there is very little if really nothing to say that is  
  
negative. Certainly at times the characters are OOC, but as this is an AU that  
  
is understandable. rnrnI like the way the characters are portrayed - they are  
  
not as two-dimensional as they are in the anime or the manga. I have all of the  
  
current translated manga (up to volume 22) and I have some assorted VHS tapes  
  
from the TV series, so I'm not an expert on how the charaters should behave by  
  
any means. My point is I like the fic and I do so for my own reasons. I do not  
  
read fanfiction with a critical eye - it would take away from the pleasure of  
  
reading it and I do derive some sort of pleasure from reading yours. I'm  
  
putting you on my Author's Alert list to keep up with this. Til' next time...  
  
Response: I think your way of looking at it is a bit like how I look at video game adaptations, or adaptations of anything, for that matter. I'd rather not be critical of it for how true it was to the game/T.V. show/cartoon/book or whatever, but rather for how good it was as a movie. I think this can work both ways as well. Take Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, although it is pretty true to the game's story (with the exception of skipping over Mortal Kombat II completely), it is a HORRIBLE movie. While at the same time Final Fantasy: TSW was a good movie, but a fairly poor adaptation of the entire Final Fantasy series' general premises (i.e. magic, swords, chocobos, etc.). The only thing about it that came out of Final Fantasy was the whole spirit thing, which was the reason that non-fans didn't like it, and the fans didn't like it for the aforementioned lack of faithfulness. It all added up to a rather poor following, but it did have a good and deep story, and awesome computer graphics, it was just a poor adaptation. So if it weren't for the expectations of the fans, if this had just been some movie that was not expected to be based on anything, the only bad spot would've been the somewhat confusing plot. So, on that same note, this story might not necessarily be best measured by how accurately the characters are portrayed, and more on how it ranks as a work of drama, romance, and comedy.   
  
Now that I've done nearly two and a half pages of review responses, let's try for about three to four and a half pages of high-quality writing! ^_-  
  
July 10th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Ranma and I are back to sharing the same room, and the same bed. Thankfully, he isn't a terrible pervert, and he isn't a restless sleeper. Thankfully, neither am I, on both counts. That means that we sleep rather peacefully on our own sides of the bed. That and I make sure he's in Ranma-chan mode, which actually makes him a little glad because he bought some girl's PJs when he inexplicably went clothing-crazy when we were shopping for my dress. Now, the reason is because Mousse has ran out of money to go to a hotel, and we've started training him here at the dojo to beat Shampoo so he can (hopefully) win her hand and make sure there are no problems when and if Ranma and I get married. In the meantime, starting next week I'm expected to go to Ukyo's a few times each week to learn how to cook properly. Personally, I think my cooking's fine…but then again that wouldn't explain why everyone seems to get food poisoning from each meal I've made so far, well every normal person, anyway. And Ranma has been quoted as saying, maybe it was in his journal, so then I supposed it would've been written, but anyway, he stated "that if anyone can do it, Ukyo can". So let's hope that she's the one person who will be able to make sure no one else will get sick from eating something I cook.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
Training Mousse:  
  
"Visual perception is an important element in Kenpo." Akane said, "For example, let's say I wanted to kick Ranma in the groin. It would be executed with more accuracy and ease if the visual percept of the inner thigh is followed."  
  
"Uh…and what does this have to do with fighting Shampoo, exactly?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Well, actually, that was just something I read off a website somewhere and found amusing."  
  
"I'm sure you did…"  
  
"But it visual perception isn't just for kicking Ranma in the groin, it can be used for other parts of the body as well."  
  
"Well, thanks for not making a demonstration out of it, anyway."  
  
"Actually, I just forgot to do that, oh well, I can't now since you'd probably expect it."  
  
"Which brings us to self defense…"  
  
June 11th, 2003: Well, I'm back to sharing the same bed with Akane. Fortunately, as long as I'm not making any physical contact with her when she wakes up, I don't seem to get attacked, which means I'm SO looking forward to the next thunderstorm that happens. I might just sleep on the floor or on the couch, for fear of something that would be a lot more likely to cause harm to me than a thunderstorm. At least I'm in girl form, which means I can't be aroused or anything, or at least not in such an obvious way as when I'm a guy (I really don't know much about girls in that way…but I've heard a few things). Anyway, the reason for it is because Mousse is here to be trained to defeat Shampoo. The trick is going to be a least making him seem to be stronger than me. Considering that all the times I have fought Shampoo I used only a fraction of my total skill (mainly since she's a girl), I think that might be sufficient. The only trouble would be Shampoo lasting long enough to experience a replication of some of my greatest skills. The other problem may be her knowing that I taught Mousse the skills, and hence knowing that I have them, and probably more. The entire complication of it all is making Mousse seem stronger than me without him actually fighting and possibly killing me. I also think the fact that things are already in the world for me to inevitably be married to someone else might also work in his favor. I may be slightly stronger than Mousse, but I'm also less available, and if Mousse could at least seem to be strong enough, she might go ahead and chose him considering all the circumstances. I can only hope that will be the case.  
  
Thursday, June 12th, 2003:   
  
Well, Ranma and Akane have agreed to train me, so things are well underway. I just hope that he'll train me well enough that I'll seem stronger. I'm not really sure about this whole plan. Sure, I could just kill him, but I've grown to respect him too much to do that. Plus it wouldn't exactly be a display of strength, if his guard was down and I didn't do it so that Shampoo could witness it. It'd be too much trouble and it wouldn't really be right with me. In any case, the training's going quite well, and perhaps this plan will work. If anything, Shampoo needs to accept that she cannot have Ranma. If that is achieved, I'll at least have done something noble.  
  
June 13th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
There really isn't much to talk about, next week is certain to be more eventful, I'm sure…just learning how to cook properly. This week is just training Mousse, and the details of it are rather boring. Just all the standard stuff, also taking into consideration that Mousse already has some martial arts knowledge to start out with. It's only really a matter of expanding it, so there's not too much trouble. I guess I could talk about my feelings right now, that's something, but how can I talk about a subject that I've found out quite recently I know so little about. They say when you're in love, you just know it, that no one can tell you that you're in love. That isn't the case, I don't "know" anything, all I know is that I have perhaps a few of what might be symptoms, like the fact that I've started to care about his welfare, but that's also a symptom of being a good friend. I've had friends who I wouldn't want to see get hurt, or die, or be in any kind of unpleasant situation, and there was only one I might've been anywhere close to "in love" with, and even her I'm not too sure about anymore. I guess Ranma and I are in a "friends" stage, although I guess it could also be considered a "dating" stage, which would make him a boyfriend, and me his girlfriend, although in fact the official term for us is fiancés. Still, that is only a formality, just a thing our parents forced upon us. I guess not all arranged marriages are necessarily bad, and Ranma being "arranged" to three different people means the odds are that at least one of them could be the person who is "meant" for him, and vice versa. I could very well be that "one", although it's hard to tell right now, so early on. I can only hope that time will tell whether or not that is true.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
June 14th, 2003: Summer always seems to start out rather boring, although there is certainly a lot going on now, and a lot that has yet to even come about. Still, there really haven't been any "new developments" since my last entry. Things are the same, the changes that happened, such as me and Akane sharing a bed and the training of Mousse, haven't changed. Mousse's training continues, and it's going fairly well. Akane's even been helping out with it, so it's something for us to do together, although starting next week I'll probably be teaching him alone whenever Akane's gone to Ukyo's. Akane and I are still getting along pretty well, of course, and I'm thinking we might have to go somewhere sometime, because since that first week we haven't really "gone out". So I just have to think about someplace we could go, maybe dinner again, maybe a movie, maybe we'll make a list of places or events or something we'd like to go to and make a schedule or something, that would be a good idea. Well, I'm just hoping that the majority of the summer will have things going on that are a lot more noteworthy.  
  
Author's Conclusion: I hope the length of this chapter was sufficient. It did cover an entire week, but this is kind of a slower week, as the first few weeks might be, with a few events here and there giving an example of how the various trainings are going on. I also must note that I think the whole "groin" joke came from www.infinitykenpo.com, as I seem to remember. I thought it would be funny for Akane to say that. So far it's been the only part of the research I've directly used. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as with all of my chapters, and trust me that the summer section of the story will get better and better as we go along. 


	18. Entry 18

ALiX:  
  
i love ur story! also i really like the fact that ur actually keeping ur  
  
promise to write daily (well for the most part, but its still way better than ive seen by any other writer), i really respect that.I find it interesting the way you made akane a busexual, although it does make sense. anyway i cant wait for you to write more stuff!  
  
Response: Well, I find that I really hate some stories that end up with no updates for months and months after being so good and setting up a great story, then just as it gets to what I think is going to be the best part, there are no more chapters and it seems like the author may have just abandoned the story. Now I have several stories that I myself have abandoned (such as my novelization of Mega Man and Final Fantasy 7 Part 2 [why the hell they didn't think of using the "part" thing for Final Fantasy X-2 is beyond me]). And by the way, it's bisexual, I'm not sure if that was a typo (the 'u' key is right next to the 'i' key, so that would make some sense), or if it was inspired somehow by how Ranma writes it and says it.  
  
Goku90504:  
  
ranma's fear of cat's is because of the neko ken and he does not become a cat  
  
as that implies that he transforms like with his curse . he is just starts to  
  
act like a cat and is more powerful (stronger faster and can shread wood with a  
  
swipe of his hand with what is call his ki claws) though less intlengent it is  
  
not specificality stated that akane is the only one who can bring him out of  
  
the neko ken it just has to be someone ranma trusts and is implyed though not  
  
stated that the person needs to be female rnthere are many different fannon  
  
explantions for how the neko ken really works some say its the spirt of one of  
  
the cat's that died protecting him from the other cat's others say its a demon  
  
bound to his soul though that one makes little sense given that he does not  
  
just kill everyone though its cannon that he does not remember what happens  
  
when he is in the neko ken it and ways neko is the japanese word for cat if i  
  
remember right though it could be the chinese word sense the restruant is call  
  
the neko hanten (might be spelled wrong thats how it sounds) its translated to  
  
cat cafe  
  
Response: Ah, I thought it'd be weird if he has two different transformation-type curses and one just happens to be the same as one that a certain Amazon has. Also, although I wont quote it I believe you sent me an e-mail about Akane's cooking, which will be helpful, I suppose in this chapter because of the cooking training she's going to receive. I wont quote it here in part because of one review which is coming up.  
  
Gohan22:  
  
Sry i wrote that before i read chapter 15 and it's starting to make sense now.How long is this story gonna be?  
  
Response: I'm terrible with names, especially when they're all DBZ character names that start with the letter G and a followed with numbers. But I take it you were the guy who seemed to be strongly against the Akane-bisexual thing. Apology accepted, in any case. I kind of toned the whole thing down due in part to your complaints and it also is part of her inner-conflicts, which make the story interesting. As far as length, I believe that I've mapped it out to be around twenty-eight chapters, and the last entry is supposed to be made on August 13th, although I may write some more beyond that, depending on how much more I feel I can do with the characters at that point.  
  
Smiodon:  
  
Chapter length is much better. Thanks. Another thought occured to me. You could reduce the size of the reader response by quoting only the relevant parts. The responses you give are primarily of interest to the person who wrote in. Obviously they know what they wrote and don't need a full quoting. If someone is really curious, they can go to the reviews and read them ;)rnrnAt any rate, thanks for writing.  
  
Response: Well, for one, it helps for me to see the entire entry, although I think I may change the format, perhaps starting next chapter as a simple list of reviewer issues and responses to each issue. However, since I've already started with the traditional thing here, and since I have just a little over one page this time, I'll just keep this format for one more chapter.  
  
Monday, June 16th, 2003:  
  
Dear Shinji,  
  
My friend, it has been awhile since I last wrote to you. I have good news, my son is finally getting married, and to one of Soun's daughters, which is even better news! I shall send you an invitation closer to the actual date of the wedding, which is still being determined, although we're planning on having it in August.   
  
It's quite a miracle, actually. For awhile it seemed as though the whole situation was hopeless, they seemed to absolutely hate each other. Then we discovered a journal entry that showed that Ranma had actually been secretly in love with Akane for quite some time, and that he suspected that Akane had similar feelings. Of course, after discovering that information, we had to make the engagement official, and start making plans for the wedding. Already, they are sharing the same room! I know, it's a bit immoral, but kids these days, and considering they will be husband and wife in only a few months time, I don't think it's that serious a problem.  
  
My son has also taken a student, Mousse, I think is his name. Akane has been pitching in on the training, but she's started going to Ukyo's to learn how to cook properly, as any woman should know. Hopefully, her cooking will at least improve to edible, if nothing else. I think Ranma could cope without a wife that cooks, but it could get in the way of other responsibilities he shall have in time. In any case, I am proud that my son is finally taken a student, hopefully the first of many more to come.  
  
Well, I believe that is all. I shall look forward to seeing you at the wedding in August.  
  
Sincerely, Genma Saotome  
  
Akane's cookin'!:  
  
"Improvisation is okay, but in order to break the rules of cooking, you must first know them. And considering that you seem to know very little, I think it'd be safe that you not improvise." Ukyo instructed.  
  
"Alright…" Akane said, with a certain amount of skepticism in her voice.  
  
"Ranma's told me you never try your own food, that is not good for something you do for the first time. If you make something different from what you've done before, you MUST try it yourself to make sure it isn't something that tastes bad or could potentially kill someone. In this case, you'd probably need my set of food poisoning vaccines."  
  
"I never heard of a cook who carries food poisoning vaccines…"  
  
"That's because they don't tell you they carry them. What do you think the impression it would have on people would be? I'd have to explain very carefully to them that I only use it when testing new types of food. I'm not sure they'd trust that explanation, so why bring it up in the first place?"  
  
"Okay…"  
  
"Well, actually, I bought them in advance, figuring you'd need them…I just-didn't want to offend you. Sorry…"  
  
"You could of just told me in the first place!"  
  
"Well then…one important thing is how long you leave something in the oven or on the stove and how high a temperature you cook it at. You need to follow the instructions VERY carefully here, and follow them EXACTLY. If you cook it too quickly, there may be dangerous bacteria on it, especially when you're dealing with meat. If you cook it for too long, it'll be burnt, and no one likes burnt food."  
  
"So that's why they give you specific times! I always thought they were just suggestions…"  
  
"Lesson number one: Nothing on a recipe is a SUGGESTION!…That is, unless it's specifically marked as a suggestion."  
  
"What about all those other things you told me, what lesson numbers are they?"  
  
"I don't know, I only know that Lesson number one is the most important lesson. I've never been good with numbers, except for measurements, of course."  
  
Tuesday, June 17th:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Ukyo's methods are quite strange and unusual to me, but I suppose they are the proper methods. I must say though that she seems to take all the fun out of cooking. She says creativity can only be used at a certain level of cooking expertise, that I need to learn the basics first. I guess she's right, so I obviously can't wait for the advanced stuff, and I'll just have to go through all the basic stuff first. Math was never like this…it started out fun in grade school and then from there it got really boring. Of course, math isn't really an art, at least not to most people. There are those guys who do stuff on computers and come up with physics and chemistry things in science. I guess cooking is a bit mathematical too, but math is not the point I'm trying make here, I'm trying to make a comparison, but whatever. Ranma's doing fine with training Mousse, the wedding date has actually been set now: Sunday, August 10th. That means if on August 1st we decide to call it off there will be a lot of things to get sent back, a bunch of arrangements to be unmade, and a lot of money that will probably just end up lost. So, it looks like even if we don't want it, there's going to be too much pressure on us when we can make a choice that in fact we'll have no choice at all. I tried to get father to push it back a little more, but he wouldn't budge on the issue, and even wondered why I was "so concerned about it" because things seem to be going fine, but that's exactly my point! Something HAS to screw up somewhere, something like this can't just be smooth sailing all the way. I think we're in dangerous waters here, and I don't like it.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
Wednesday, June 18th: Ukyo tells me that there might be hope for Akane. She simply lacks cooking knowledge, which is what I figured anyway, of course, I feared it might be that she's completely incapable of cooking AT ALL. Still, a lot of things could go wrong, she may be incapable of learning anything beyond what she does. I highly doubt that, Akane's pretty intelligent. She could learn Martial Arts, so she can obviously learn how to cook. The only difference, I guess is that Akane also has to unlearn a few things, and since she started martial arts training at a relatively young age, she has very little experience in unlearning. Still, maybe I'm just making a big deal outta nothing, and she'll do just fine. Also, I should mention that the wedding is now set for August 10th, and unless they're going to get everything arranged in the last nine or so days before that date, I think a lot of money will have gone down the drain if we choose not to proceed come August 1st. I asked my old man if it could be made any later, and he told me it's already set up with the church and it would be hard to change. I thought I might ask if we could make the date we could change our minds sooner, but I felt it'd probably be just as in vain. Oh, and as far as Mousse's training goes, it's moving along pretty well, even without Akane being there to help every day. It seems, though, that the more things go well, the more I fear an incoming catastrophe.  
  
Friday, June 20th:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Today I made an omelet, but the problem was I had to break a couple eggs. I could eat it, though, as could Ukyo, although she was standing pretty close to her food poisoning vaccines when she did. I think I might make an omelet for Ranma tomorrow morning. Of course, I'll taste it first to show him it wont kill him or make him sick. Ukyo gave me a copy of the instructions when I told her about this plan and reminded me I need to follow them eggs-actly (hehe). Even though it's very mechanical and I can't diverge at all from the instructions, I'm still quite excited about it. Perhaps basic cooking isn't all that boring!  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo-cook in training  
  
Saturday, June 21st: When I first saw Akane cooking this morning, I just about screamed. Then she told me she was making an omelet, and that Ukyo has tried one of hers and not gotten sick. Then when she was finished she-and this is hard for me to believe, but she tried her own cooking! It was primarily to convince me that I wouldn't throw up immediately afterwards, although I was still afraid that the effect might be delayed. Still, I thought that if it did make me sick, at least Akane'd probably end up getting sick with me. Plus Ukyo gave Akane a full set of food poisoning vaccines, just in case. So I haven't gotten sick yet, and the omelet tasted rather good. I guess all my fear was for nothing, although that doesn't mean things still can't screw up. Yeah, she can make an omelet, but I'd rather not be living off an omelet-only diet. Sure, I can cook myself, more things than just omelets, but Akane seems to like cooking so much that I don't see any reason I should deny her the pleasure other than her not knowing how, and that's why Ukyo's teaching her. On one more note, well two, first Mousse is still progressing, no road blocks yet, and next week me and Akane are heading back to the mall, this time shopping for her. I'm going in girl form because I seem to have some kind of fashion sense when I'm like that. Hopefully, helping Akane find clothes will be sufficient, and I wont buy anymore for myself. I think the whole thing might be part of the curse somehow, but that's only speculation right now.  
  
Author's Conclusion: I'd first like to thank all my FCS teachers because I was able to draw from the things they taught me. I'd also like to mention that the name Shinji is partly a homage to Neon Genesis Evangelion, and partly because Shinji is apparently a common Japanese name. I'd also like to note that Genma's letter is the last thing that I took off of the things I have hand-written. From here on out it's all off my the timeline I wrote for this story. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. 


	19. Entry 19

Dogbert Carroll:  
  
Issue #1: Ranma's fear of storms-was it some Frankenstein's experiment Genma did on Ranma for training?  
  
Response: It was really just a natural fear, of course at this point you might not have read far enough to see that part. It was really a lack of "caring" on Genma's part. He didn't even realize Ranma had the fear in the first place. Either because they each had individual tents or because Genma was a heavy sleeper.  
  
Issue #2: Mousse referring to tribal rituals.  
  
Response: I didn't realize at the time that Mousse himself was an Amazon, and that he was named after the hair product, not the rodent. This will be corrected in an update. Likely these updates will take place at some point after the story is completed.  
  
Issue #3: "SHUT THE HELL UP VOICE IN MY HEAD!"  
  
'She's totally lost it!' Ranma observed. LOL!  
  
Response: Another brilliant character moment brought to you by JDHGamer.  
  
Issue #4: I've always viewed Akane's cooking as a curse.  
  
Response: Unfortunately, as it has been stated in other reviews, or at least an e-mail to me, that it's only a fannon theory, and because of that, it is not a curse, hence it can be cured. Plus, it's funny just to have Akane be so clueless about proper cooking practices (i.e. chapter 18).  
  
Issue #5: Akane is bi because of Ranma having both forms? She's pissed at him for her being attracted to him in both forms?  
  
Response: That's kind of right, although it's also partly based on that thing that happened four years ago, having feelings for Ranma in whatever form he's in gives her further reason to believe she has that orientation, but she still has doubts about it because she is scared of intimacy.  
  
Issue #6: Author's Conclusion: "WHY CAN'T THEY JUSTLOVE EACH OTHER!"   
  
Because she's hateful and just short of evil and he's about as mature as a 5 year old? *grin*  
  
Response: So that's why…  
  
Issue #7: Ranma's mother   
  
Response: I really shouldn't have messed around with a character I know so little about, but I had to give him some reason for not being that perverted…but then again, another reason could be that the last time he even had sex education he probably thought it was "icky". lol  
  
Issues #8 and #9: The offical t-shirt isn't 'I hate Ranma'. The offical t-shirt reads 'Ranma,  
  
Prepare to die!'.rnNabiki sells them for 1200 a pop.rnLoved the scene with  
  
Kuno!rnBTW I don't believe Ukyou is a better cook then rnKasumi. Ukyou is the  
  
best japanese pizza type thing - I can't remember how to spell it ok?- inrnthe  
  
universes because she focuses on the one dish.  
  
Response: First, that whole T-Shirt thing is funny, but I don't think the "prepare to die" thing would've been as appropriate for the moment. In any case, I think Ukyo is a more entertaining character to have training Akane, because Kasumi would probably go too easy on her or something. Essentially, Ukyo is the better character for the job.  
  
Issue #10: The groin bit was funny as hell. *grin*  
  
Response: And yet another brilliant character humor moment brought to you by…oh, you probably get the point.  
  
jelly bean:  
  
Issue #1: The whole bi thing, being taken by surprise.  
  
Response: I've already made all the comments I can right now. Just wanted to comment on the fact that I have no further comments.  
  
Issue #2: Shampoo writing journals.  
  
Response: She's another kind of character I have a rather sketchy knowledge of, although certainly I could write something from her point of view. I'd just have to master the art of broken English, after taking all these classes in basic composition just to write something that follows none of these rules. Lol  
  
That and I have no idea what she'd be doing, maybe she's training herself too, as I've said before I prefer it to be whereabouts: unknown. If I come up with something, I'll write it, though.  
  
Final Comments: I think it's just all those reviews from that one guy that took up most of the space. I hope that someone appreciated the new review format. Also, it seems, according to the homepage, that all the reviews from June 4th were accidentally deleted. Well, you can find them in my chapters! lol  
  
And now, a quote that's funny yet completely irrelevant to the story:  
  
"Our songs are on the average 39% scratching, and 5 to the 8% keyboarding, the rest of the percent is bobbing my head up and down." -Joseph Hahn, Meteora DVD (this is for one of my readers, you know who you are, and because I really like this quote).  
  
June 24th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Tomorrow is when Ranma and I now plan on going shopping for clothes, as a kind of date, I guess…it's to quote "expand my wardrobe". I never really thought it needed expanding, but Ranma seems to think it does, and since we need to start going more places together, what the heck. Considering that our parents will be paying for it, there's no harm. I just hope that Ranma wont go as crazy as (s)he did last time. As far as how things are going with Ukyo, I kinda screwed up when trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich…I ended up making a very grilled cheese sandwich. Then I tried again and it came out okay. I'm starting to get a little tired of all this simple stuff, but I guess that's just part of learning…  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
Expanding the Wardrobe:  
  
"I didn't know they had 'Ranma, prepare to die!' T-Shirts her. At over-inflated prices to boot, it's cheaper to buy them directly from the factory outlet, or should I say: Nabiki." Akane said.  
  
"I can't believe people actually buy these! How many guys are named Ranma have have girls who want him to die?" Ranma asked.  
  
A bunch of guys in the store raised their hands.  
  
"Nabiki must've know there's a large market."  
  
"Well, the market's going to be hopefully losing one person."  
  
"Not me, I know that…"  
  
"You're joking, right?"  
  
"I might be…"  
  
"You're scaring me, Akane."  
  
"Good, I'm quite glad."  
  
"Hey, we could take the part off of 'I hate Ranma' and stitch it on to your 'I love P-Chan shirt', and vice-versa! That would be fun!…Of course, you wouldn't have to wear the one with my name on it until your sure."  
  
"Nabiki could probably make them herself, and bill our parents. And I'll probably be ordering the P-Chan one soon, with Ryouga in parenthesis."  
  
"I wonder if she can make one in a guy's size…not that I bear that much of a grudge with him anymore, it'd just be kind of a joke, you know. Of course, I can see you still bearing a grudge against him, even though you already slapped him so hard it gave him a black eye and then forgave him right after. Why did you forgive him so quickly, anyway?"  
  
"Because I vented all of my anger when I slapped him. And obviously that was a lot of anger. So I wasn't angry at him anymore, so I forgave him."  
  
"To think, if you had used anything else to vent that anger, Ryouga might not be alive today…"  
  
"Besides, we needed his help. Forgiving him gives us a few points. Since I technically saved his life by not killing him for what he did, he owes me a lot."  
  
"I guess one could look at it that way…"  
  
"But aren't we here to shop for clothing?"  
  
"Oh, yes! We are, just got sidetracked talking about all that."  
  
"Well, which do you think would look better on me, this or this?"  
  
"Neither, but how about that one over there?"  
  
June 25th, 2003: Well, we got a lot of nice clothes, most of which both Akane and myself like, all of course which Akane likes, because otherwise she wouldn't have bought them in the first place. In the meantime, all the training is going quite well, and we plan on going to see The Matrix: Reloaded next week. We also plan on sometime this week just hanging out together and playing video games, watching DVDs, and stuff like that. Maybe play some board games, even, that would be nice…maybe she'd be brave enough to try-TWISTER! Haha, that would be amusing, and painful not just because of twisting my body in different directions. Maybe we should save playing that for sometime when we'd be more comfortable with each other or something. Maybe Clue and Monopoly would be more appropriate for this "stage" in our relationship, maybe even Risk. Maybe a little Final Fantasy XI, although we'd have to be in separate rooms to play that, we'd still be together in the "game world". I didn't even know Akane had her own Playstation 2. Well, not before the dance, anyway. A girl that skilled would have to own the game, I'm sure. She beat me even when I was giving it my full effort.  
  
June 27th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Saturday is now officially the "fun and games" day, where we just get together, watch movies, play video games, board games, maybe even some D&D and Shadow Run. It's going to be a weekly thing, and we might even invite some friends at some point. Mousse is doing fine, by the way, and there haven't been too many more cooking accidents. Ukyo is considering allowing me to make some of the more advanced stuff like Pizza. Sounds like things are going to be getting a lot more exciting now, and hopefully I'll have more things to talk about. Also, the whole shopping trip thing wasn't that bad, Ranma didn't get anything for herself, (himself, I know I've been saying I'm just going to refer to him in whatever form he happened to be in, but I just don't feel right with it when referring to the girl-side). So I hope that tomorrow's going to be fun.  
  
Fun & Games Day #1:  
  
"I think you're just letting me win!"  
  
"Ranma, I'm just not very good at these First Person Shooters, can we play something else?"  
  
"Is there anything that we're equally good at?"  
  
"The Sims?"  
  
Latter…  
  
"It isn't really that easy to make someone get to kiss you like that…"  
  
"Yeah, this for a sim-game this is very unrealistic. But then again, we're talking about accelerate time, plus it's a video game…it's not exactly supposed to imitate life right down to how fast people actually fall in love."  
  
"Yeah, it's taken us two years and we aren't even there yet!"  
  
"Some people take two seconds and some people take over two years. I guess it doesn't matter how fast it happens, just how it happens, and why it happens."  
  
"Ranma, I don't think you should be so deep, it doesn't suite you well at all…"  
  
June 21st, 2003: Well, I think we had a pretty good time, and got to talk about some things, like why Sims fall in love so easily. It makes me think a bit about me and Akane, but I don't really think this is love yet…this is a bond, but it needs to be strong enough. Maybe I'm just thinking about that line in The Matrix, but then again if "Being the one is like being in love" then why didn't Neo know he was the one. Maybe being in love is like being the one because you need to figure it out yourself…Akane says I shouldn't be "this deep", but then again, this is a journal, I'm supposed to be deep…she was probably just referring to being deep in a conversation.  
  
Author's Conclusion: Well, there you have it, two events, the second one was a little shorter than the first one, but I never really planned it on my timeline, it's just a little something extra that I could have the characters discuss in their journals. It should also help me out a bit because those second two entries always get me because I always get through everything I had planned in the first two ones. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed everything so far, and I'm not sure why I keep on saying that, maybe just to be polite. lol 


	20. Entry 20

Coyotegurl: Another concern about Akane being "bisexual"  
  
Response: I just might stop responding to these comments at all, not that I don't like them, just that I grow tired of over and over again explaining that this is key to a moment that takes place.and to be exact now-in chapter 24. Yes, in chapter 24 the fact that Akane is somewhat bisexual will come into play as a dramatic non-lemon element. With that said, I will not make any further responses unless there's something specific I want to address.  
  
Phantom Crossing: Hmm...fantastic. Exquisite. Supperb even. Ranma playing FF XI...classic...The whole Akane bi sub thingy is okay for dramatic affect. Overall very creative, much liked, and I can't wait to read more!  
  
Response: Yeah.it's hard to not post the whole thing, so hard in fact that I'm not even bothering. I don't think I'll ever do anything too descriptive about Final Fantasy XI, because frankly, it hasn't been released in the united states and despite being well-informed about certain aspects of the game world, I don't know nearly enough about actually playing it. That plus I haven't really played that many MMORPGs in my lifetime to fully understand the experience. Really, I was just paying homage to my favorite RPG series of all time. And yes, the whole bi thing, as I mentioned before, is a dramatic element that will come into play about four chapters from now. I'm still working on the events that will lead up to it, but I'm pretty sure about the events that will happen afterwards.  
  
Relezite:  
  
Issue #1: Daily updates a problem?  
  
Response: I do, as I've mentioned. The first few parts were completely written out on paper, and everything from here is specifically laid out in a kind of outline I've written for the story. Some things are a bit spontaneous, like the fun and games day, but the rest is very carefully done.  
  
Issue #2: Third-Person parts being mostly dialog.  
  
Response: The story, in its written draft, consisted almost entirely of the journal entries. The first "third-person-event" was the dance, originally, but I decided to write more third-person parts because I felt that they would more character interaction to the story. Basically, yes, it is VERY dialogue-oriented, in fact, I probably should've just given it a script-type format, but I really wanted to put some description in when I felt it necessary.  
  
Issue #3: When one character writes something in his/her journal/diary the other should not know about it. "Does Ranma actually know how to dance?"- (Akane Entry 5) and "...and yeah, I can dance, by the way." -(Ranma Entry 6)  
  
Response: I believe this is because between the two entries there was a dialog between the two characters regarding whether or not the other could dance. I'll probably go back when I'm finished with the story and make various revisions, and perhaps even more after I have my big Ranma marathon. If I find this to be terribly unclear, I'll be sure to change it.  
  
Issue #4: Character dialog, characters speaking twice and not being mentioned that it's the same character speaking(I hope I put that the right way).  
  
Response: Another thing I'll be certain to change if I find anything while revising.  
  
Issue #5: Voice inflection, facial expressions, and even eye movements are important to setting the mood and tempo of the story.  
  
Response: This is something I use a few times, as I sort of intoned before, I'm very light on description, mainly because I feel it's only needed when there's something to describe, that I want the reader to know about or be aware of. Any other kinds of descriptions I'd consider to be extraneous.  
  
Issue #6: Characters have little temper, and the CD I ordered, Akane already knowing she "loves" Ranma.  
  
Response: Actually, I just said that I ordered it, I have yet to receive it. If Akane DOES know she's in love, then this is one MAJOR character difference that goes with the whole "slightly alternate universe" thing, because her not knowing for sure is, of course, key to the character development in the story. Also, you brought up the issue that Akane just slapping Ryouga and then forgiving him was more Nadoka-like. Yet perhaps it is one reason why Ranma's starting to like Akane, because in some Freudian sense she is starting to seem more and more like his mother, who he deep down in his psychosis wants to marry. Then again, I think Freud was doing crack when he came up with most of his theories, so that's probably not entirely accurate.  
  
Issue #7: Shampoo making out with Mousse, if you think about how she acts in the show/manga, is completely out of character.  
  
Response: She's just going for very DESPERATE measures to make Ranma jealous, not realizing, of course, that Ranma has very little interest in her at all. It's a little different from how she'd probably normally act (but it seems that ALL of the characters have been toned-down violence- wise).  
  
Issue #8: Mousse not reacting with total bliss at it (see issue #7).  
  
Response: Well, he does, but that's kind of a given, I felt.and it's hard to see how he's reacting from Akane and Ranma's angle.  
  
Issue #9: Adding conflict.  
  
Response: CONFLICT, is coming up in the already infamous Chapter 24.  
  
Issue #10: Cultural references.  
  
Response: This is just some things, mainly my own interests being inserted into the story, but it's almost the only way to make this any more interesting. I guess I could say they were playing A video game, watching A DVD, or playing A role-playing game, or listening to A J-Pop artist. However, if you look close enough, the cultural references are tools being used to develop the characters. Sure, there are other ways to develop characters, I suppose.but I just think that it's fun and goes with the somewhat light-hearted nature I'm trying to give the story.  
  
Issue #11: The age-old complaint about the responses taking more space than the story.  
  
Response: The story, in general, is pretty good size, I try to get around five to six pages including the review responses, per chapter. Although I don't feel this is a minimum or a maximum. I just type up what I have planned to happen in the chapter, add anything else that I come up with to happen, and when I get through the week of entries, there's the chapter.  
  
Author's Note: I may make a VERY important update to chapter 19 regarding a misprinted date: July 21st, 2003 should've been July 28th. Sorry 'bout that.  
  
July 1st, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Ranma and I are going to a movie on Wednesday, I think I may have mentioned it before, the new Matrix movie, it's been in the theaters awhile, but we haven't gotten the chance to see it yet. That plus supposedly going to a movie is a key dating thing, although usually for certain reasons which are not really the reasons we're going. We're just going to enjoy a movie together, that's it, maybe holding hands or something, but no making-out, at all, that's the big rule, I haven't established it with Ranma but I feel it's already established by default, anyway. He can't do anything unless I SPECIFICALLY give him permission to be able to do it. Right now, I don't think that'll be a problem, though. Okay, now for the usual training updates, both are going just peachy. I've started making some more advanced stuff like spaghetti, and so far Ukyo hasn't needed to use her food-poisoning vaccines. So with that said, things are going okay.  
  
The next day, after the movie, in the video arcade:  
  
"I challenge you to a DDR Max game, Ranma!" a voice said.  
  
"Ryouga!" Ranma replied, after turning around to see who it was.  
  
"If you lose, you call the wedding off."  
  
"Wait a second, I thought.?" Ranma said, confused.  
  
"You obviously thought wrong."  
  
"Well, the wedding can't be called off until August." Ranma mentioned.  
  
"You can call it off then."  
  
"Look, this is absolutely ridiculous you guys!" Akane said, "The only reason we'd be calling it off is if we think it won't work out, and right now, it looks like it is going to work out. If that changes, we'll let you know."  
  
"Well, if Ranma thinks he'll lose."  
  
"Hey, I don't lose."  
  
"Well PROVE IT."  
  
"I WILL!"  
  
"RANMA!"  
  
"Don't worry, I won't lose."  
  
Ranma stepped into the both, the shrine, and planted his feet firmly on the arrow pads. Ryouga did as well. Ryouga had apparently gotten a big bag of change so he inserted the coins. The game started and their feet became a blur of motion, making precise movements based on the directions on the screen. In the end, Ranma just barely lost.  
  
"Best two out of three!" Ranma shouted.  
  
Ryouga inserted more coins, several complex feet movements later, Ranma lost again.  
  
"Best three out of five!"  
  
More coins, and another loss.  
  
"Best four out of-"  
  
"Wait a second, let me try." Akane said.  
  
"That wasn't the deal!" Ryouga said.  
  
"Well, let's change the deal, and raise the stakes a bit. If I beat you, best three out of five, you'll promise to leave us alone from this point out. If you win, the wedding will be called off like the deal before, and I'll let you kiss me-once, and ONLY once. If you kiss me more than once, or for too long, the entire deal's off, and I will get the opportunity to personally kill you, or at least cripple you."  
  
"Akane.are you sure?" Ranma asked nervously.  
  
"Trust me."  
  
"Alright, it's a deal." Ryouga said.  
  
Then he eagerly inserted enough coins for at least three games, figuring that'd be all he needed, and he was right. The game started and Akane's feet were moving so fast it was like they weren't even there at all. As much as Ryouga tried to keep up, he just couldn't, and two more rounds latter, we was completely and utterly beaten-by a girl.  
  
As Akane got off the dance pads, Ranma gave her a high five, and Ryouga lay unconscious in front of the game screen, completely worn out from the game.  
  
July 2nd, 2003: I thought that Ryouga had already given up on trying to stop me and Akane. Perhaps he was just recuperating from that slap she gave him. I had no idea that Akane was that good at DDR Max, then again, I didn't know much about her until just a little over a month ago. The movie was good, although both Akane and I thought they kinda overdid it with the fight sequences, but we loved their anime-inspired soundtrack. Then we went to the arcade and that's where Ryouga showed up and challenged me to DDR, I lost every time and kept on pushing for best two out of three, three out of five, etc. Then Akane stepped in and said she'd let him kiss her if he beat her, and basically it was the same deal of us calling off the wedding which would've happened if I had lost, which I did, but then Akane came in and changed the deal somewhat. We probably would've not had a problem if Akane had lost, because Akane could say he kissed her too long and call the entire "deal" off, then pulverize Ryouga, as she had also promised to do if he kissed her too long. Of course, he didn't get the chance to kiss her at all, because Akane won every one of the three rounds in the three out of five game. Ryouga was too dim-witted to think about the whole "kissing too long" thing and how that could work to our advantage if he actually won, but just as well. I just hope he'll keep his end of the deal and stop bothering us.  
  
July 4th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
The movie was pretty good, although completely confusing, and afterwards I totally kicked Ryouga's ass at DDR Max. I don't think he'll be bothering us much anymore. He had this whole stupid idea of challenging Ranma and making this whole deal about calling the wedding off. Anyway, it's all over now, and I won, of course. It's a pretty long story, so I won't go into any further details. I've done some Mac & Cheese with Ukyo, which is pretty easy, just reading the instructions off the box, but it's still good to know. We may get to making meals pretty soon. Mousse's training's supposed to wrap up next week, and after that, he plans on going to fight Shampoo. I'll wish him luck when the time comes.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 5th, 2003: Today was our second fun and games day, and we spent it this time playing Risk. Akane completely conquered the world, once again proving that she's better than me at nearly everything except real martial arts. Of course, Risk is a game of logic and I don't exactly have that characteristic in abundance. I guess it really doesn't matter who wins, because I had a lot of fun losing. It was really just getting to talk to Akane that's the highlight of just about every time I'm with her. To think that before communication was the low-point of our relationship, and now it's the high point, that's really something, I guess. Next week, though, I'm going to be putting maybe a little more of that competitive spirit of mine into whichever game we end up playing.  
  
Author's conclusion: So there you have it, a scene with conflict AND a cultural reference all in one. lol I had written in my outline about a scene in a video arcade, but I never really thought about what would happen until I started writing it. Then I came up with the idea of Ryouga's challenge and it just went off from there. Well, that's six pages, folks, I'd say a pretty decent chapter. Once again, I hope you enjoyed it. 


	21. Entry 21

These are all shorter reviews, so I'm not bothering to cut them down.  
  
Butterfly:  
  
(16) Such fun I had with this chapter. I guess the talk between Kuno and Ranma was your funniest moment up to now, at least in my opinion. Just great!  
  
Response: I kinda had fun writing it, and having Ukyo there to supervise things meant that Kuno could end up really in character at moments, then calm down after a firm hit on the head with a frying pan. lol  
  
(17) Hm... Akane is known to be a very restless sleeper. I mean, Ryoga often complained of her hitting him in her sleep while he was there a P-chan. You could make her peaceful, if you want, but at least come up with an explanation. Otherwise a nice chapter.  
  
Response: That's because Ryouga was right cuddled up next to her, Ranma's a good distance away. By "restless", I meant more she doesn't roll around in her sleep and inadvertently land on top of Ranma.  
  
And the last review just says I'm doing "okay", so I don't really need to respond to that expect for this note.  
  
TetsuoTsubushi: Will Ryouga be back? What were they doing fighting in DDR anyway. Since when do martial artist fight that way? What game will they play next?  
  
Response: Since Ryouga had the crazy idea of using it as a means of challenging Ranma. And as far as which game they'll play next, so far I have no plans.but that could change, although I doubt it with everything I've got going on.  
  
Dogbertcarroll:  
  
Did Genma have an agreement with Senji to marry Ranma to one of his daughters? Things are going so quietly I kind of expect it.  
  
Response: Senji? Do you mean Shinji? No, this guy is completely fabricated from my imagination, and no this guy is single and daughterless as far as I know. Unless there happens to be a character named Senji in the series who also happens to have daughters that...ow, my brain hurts.  
  
Loved the t-shirt scene of course. *grin* Hehehe. Lots of Ranmas! I don't think you need to write Shampoo's journal in broken english. She isn't allowed to speak Chinese in Japan but Cologne said nothing about writing it. I'm not sure about the natural fear of thunderstorms tho' I would think with the number of times he had gone through it during his training trips he would have gotten over it. Now if it was another of Genma's stupid training ideas (patent pending) I could see him developing a phobia. Hm. I may have to use that idea myself.  
  
Response: The Chinese thing I thought of before, but now Shampoo is definitely A.W.O.L from the story for suspense reasons.  
  
Ryoga allowed Ranma another shot? He should have just stopped at one. He had what he wanted after all. Why would he continue? and since when does Ryoga move faster then Ranma?  
  
Response: Ryouga was kind of stupid that way, and he moved just barely faster than Ranma, he was apparently "training" for this, no idea why, if fact never ask questions about a romantic comedy where comedy plays this key a role. It's like asking why are there so many Ranmas in the clothing store.  
  
Usagichaz: I enjoyed your story. I've been reading it non-stop(well almost)all day. I really wasn't into Ranma Fanfictions but now that I read yours I am sure to look for more. Your chapters are kind of short but I don't mind since I enjoy reading other people's questions and your answers in case I had the same question. I only have one question. How come you haven't put more detail into Mousse's training and what new techniques he learned?  
  
Response: Well, I'm glad you liked it for one, and as for the question, I did only a little research, and I seem to find that every time I try to research Martial Arts I have trouble comprehending the techniques and everything. It's probably just that I don't have the patience. Also, in this chapter will give a few hints into what kind of things Ranma trained Mousse in doing.  
  
July 8th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Just another week after this one and I'll be a full-fledged cook! Despite a recent accident that made good use out of Ukyo's food poisoning vaccines, I'm doing quite well. The whole incident was an accident on the part of Ukyo because she copied down one of the instructions incorrectly. Of course, I did a taste test first, and thank goodness, because I ended up vomiting all over the floor.actually, I'm not sure I'm all too thankful about that part, but thank goodness no one else ending up eating it. I got the vaccine right away, although I thought it tasted worse than the food itself! In any case, it stopped me throwing up, but I still felt a little sick to my stomach for about half an hour afterwards. I cleaned up the floor myself, even though Kasumi would've been ever so happy to (she's weird that way). I went to Ukyo's the next day and found out what the problem was, she apologized for it, and it was good to know it wasn't something I did. In other news, Mousse's training wraps up on Friday with a sparring match, and on Saturday myself and Ranma are going out for dinner to hopefully celebrate Mousse's training success.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 9th, 2003: Mousse's training will finish this Friday. I have set it up so we will face off for a final spar, and if he comes close enough to beating me, I'll consider his training complete. However, whether that happens or not, Akane and I will be going out to dinner the next day. If he does win, that'll just make it a celebration, if not, we'll celebrate anyway. And I'm pretty confidant in his skill, although I will certainly not be going easy on him by any means. On a somewhat more gruesome note, Akane got sick from her own cooking, this is the moment I had been awaiting for quite some time, but now I feel a little sorry for her. Anyway, it was Ukyo's fault because she accidentally copied the cooking instructions down wrong, so at least Akane isn't making any mistakes on her part. She did clean up the mess afterwards, which shows responsibility on her part. There may yet be hope for her.  
  
July 11th: The Final Spar  
  
It was less than a minute before midnight. Ranma and Mousse both watched the clock with anticipation as the seconds ticked away. In no time at all, all three of the hands of the clock pointed upward.  
  
"BEGIN!" Akane shouted.  
  
Long before Akane even finished pronouncing the word, a blur of fists had already begun. Each participant was attacking with one hand and blocking with the other interchangeably. And it didn't just stop with punches, kicks were being thrown in as well. Crescent kicks, roundhouse kicks, flying kicks, you name it, and they were probably using it in an incomprehensible whirlwind of movement. They each went all around the dojo, using their environment to their advantage, jumping off walls, guarding themselves behind pillars, amongst other things. Ten minutes into the fight, Akane threw them combat sticks for the second part of the spar. It was as if the sticks weren't there at all because they were moving faster than the eye could follow. There was an occasional display of acrobatics: jumps, back-flips, etc. All this time, Akane was never able to see a single hit reach its target. After another ten minutes, Akane shouted "TIME OVER!" and suddenly, the blur faded into two figures, Ranma and Mousse. The two martial artists bowed to eachother. "So is it a tie?" "No, I think Mousse got one hit in, ow! On my left shoulder." Ranma said. "So I beat you?"  
  
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone other than Shampoo." "So I AM stronger than you!" "Either that, or just slightly more coordinated. It was only one hit, don't get too cocky, overconfidence can be a weakness. And also about beating me: Don't worry, I'm getting used to it, I mean.getting beaten." "Yes, thank you Ranma. It has been an honor." "Will you be staying here for a few more days?" "No, I'm afraid not. I must make preparations for what I know I must do now, and I cannot do that here. Besides, I'm sure Ranma is anxious to have his room back."  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
I've told Ranma that it's okay if he still wants to stay in my room. Actually, I think I'd miss him, I've just gotten used to him being there every morning, and I'd rather not throw that off if we were to actually get married. We also sometimes get some talking in before we fall asleep, so that's kinda nice. It's weird, I suppose. Sorry, I'm getting tired, Ranma insisted on doing this at midnight, and he's already unconscious, I think.it just put so much of a strain on him. I think that we might just give the room to Genma, since he used to sleep in that room with Ranma before. He's been sharing a room with my father since he gave Ranma his own room as an impromptu 18th birthday "gift". Well, I'm pretty tired.so I'll have to cut this short, sorry.  
  
Sincerely, a VERY tired Akane Tendo  
  
July 12th, 2003:  
  
Another dinner date:  
  
"How's your shoulder doing?" Akane asked.  
  
"Good, I got Dr. Tofu to fix it up for me earlier." Ranma replied.  
  
"That's good." Akane said, "Do you think he'll win?"  
  
"Mousse?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Probably, I mean, he managed to hit me once , I'd say he's gotten pretty good. Although I only called it a win for his sake, I don't really call making the first and only blow a victory."  
  
"Not willing to accept defeat, as usual."  
  
"It's hard to accept defeat when one is not defeated."  
  
"I suppose it is."  
  
Just then their food arrived.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"So how's your cooking thing going?"  
  
"Ukyo says I might be graduating next week."  
  
"And only after a few weeks, she really is amazing."  
  
"And what about me?"  
  
"Well, you're even more amazing."  
  
"And you're probably just saying that to kiss up."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Well, I appreciate it either way."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Ranma was quite busy eating.  
  
Akane decided to start eating as well.  
  
"You know, I never knew Ryouga was so light on his feet."  
  
"Neither did I, all I knew was that I was lighter."  
  
"You see, that's one reason you're more amazing than Ukyo. You can actually learn how to cook, and you really kick ass at playing DDR."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Well, it's the truth, obviously. I really underestimated you all that time."  
  
"And you really shouldn't have."  
  
Another moment of silence as they ate.  
  
"Do you think Ryouga might still try to challenge you again?"  
  
"Knowing him, he might. The problem would be finding us. With his since of direction, I don't think we'll be seeing him for awhile."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Eat, eat, eat.  
  
"Do you think this might actually end up working out, this whole marriage thing?" Ranma asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, at this rate, yeah. But I'm still not sure how I feel about you, and I don't know exactly about your feelings right now either."  
  
"Just as confused, I'll tell you that. I wonder how people who've never been in love before even know if it's happening."  
  
"I'm sure we'll figure it out when the time is right."  
  
In a short while, they finished their meal, and the desert, and left for home.  
  
July 11th, 2003: Well, I just got back from the dinner date with Akane. And it was kind of a celebration of Mousse's success. He actually managed to hit me in the shoulder once, I'd say that was an achievement at least. Akane also says that her own training will be finished by the end of next week, so that's something to look forward to. I'm not sure what else to write about, except that it's getting late and I think I'll be going to sleep now. I guess I should also note that my old man is back in my old room since Akane and I have agreed to continue sharing the same room now. Anyway, goodnight.  
  
Author's Conclusion: I had everything before the dinner date hand-written for this chapter, just for a little change. It made me procrastinate typing it up, though. I really don't like writing on paper, but then again, once that I start just typing it up based on what I remember without even looking it's a bit fun. Anyway, it helped to kind of draw out the fight sequence, although it wasn't incredibly specific. Also, the dinner date was another very dialogue-oriented section of the story, as you could no doubt tell. In any case, I hope all of you liked it, and it seems that I've gone to six pages with only about one and a half of them being review responses. Yay! 


	22. Entry 22

Light02: good story your doing a perfect Ryoga although I'm having some trouble with Mousse training with Ranma so he can beat Shampoo...Mousse thinks Ranma is a major womanizer and is leading on all his fiancés so he'll never except training from him.  
  
Response: Sorry, I wanted to use Mousse mainly because he's a character I read was "hopelessly in love" with Shampoo. He's in part a tool to help resolve the issue of Shampoo. Although there is now a back story of some kind where Ranma does something for Mousse that give him a certain amount of respect for Ranma. I think I know what the perfect place to relate to that back story is, but it's still not for a few chapters.  
  
Mary: Of course, Risk is a game of logic and I don't exactly have that characteristic in abundance. Oh my god I loved that line. Ranma is such a cutie!  
  
Response: And yet one more incredibly memorable line...ah! EGO.GETTING.TOO.BIG.AHHHHHH!!!!  
  
Mary: Are Akane and Ranma falling in love yet? At least they should have feelings for each than just "friend" feelings. They're sleeping in the same bed. I think that goes beyond friendship.  
  
Response: This is the challenge, they won't "know" they're in love for a certain period of time, my challenge is keeping them in the dark about their true feelings for each other until the proper time in the story. And it's ONE HELL of a challenge, I'll tell you!  
  
July 15th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Things are going pretty well, the date went well, the training, as I said before, went well. Really, there isn't much else to report. Although I suppose it's worth noting that I'm planning a special dinner with Ranma on Saturday, once that my cooking thing is over. Actually, now that I'm thinking, there are a few more things, apparently Nabiki got a hold of some Ayumi Hamasaki concert tickets for me and Ranma, so that's happening next week. Still nothing back from Mousse about Shampoo so we have no idea what's going on with that. This week has otherwise so far been pretty uneventful.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 16th, 2003: Akane's scheduled to select a wedding dress and kimonos and stuff sometime next week. Unfortunately, I can't help her there, you know, tradition and stuff. There's also an Ayumi Hamasaki concert next week that Nabiki got us tickets for. Yeah, all the cool stuff is basically happening next week. This week, I am bored as HELL, at least Akane has her cooking thing to keep her entertained, but I have NOTHING but video games and DVDs, all of which I've played and watched before!! Something interesting better happen this week or I'll go MAD!  
  
July 18th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
I just made a complete meal, and nothing in it made anyone sick! So tomorrow I'll cook something for Ranma, I've got everyone else out of the house, so we can have one of those romantic candlelight dinners, as they like to call them. Romantic, that sounds kinda funny, doesn't it? I'm not sure about the whole love thing, yeah, I've said that before, but I'm also saying it's more than just friendship. It's kinda in-between friendship and love, perhaps, or I don't know what the hell I'm talking about! Emotions are such weird things.I'll just have to deal with them, though. So far I don't have the reflex of glomping him on sight, or at any other time for that matter, so I don't think it's anything too serious yet.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 19th, 2003:  
  
Dinner for two:  
  
"Akane, I don't think you really had to do all this just to prove you can cook." Ranma said.  
  
"I know, I just thought this would be nice."  
  
"We've already had two dinner dates."  
  
"Yeah, but never a candle-lit one at home."  
  
"You're really obsessed with going all-out with this whole dating thing, just having ever single kind of date possible!"  
  
"You don't like it?"  
  
"No, it's nice.I guess, it's just two dinner-type dates in a row, it's a little.I dunno."  
  
"Well, c'mon let's eat before it gets cold."  
  
"Did you taste test it first?"  
  
"Of course I did! Now let's eat!"  
  
"Okay, okay."  
  
As they ate, there was of course, the occasional bit of conversation.  
  
"Heard anything from Mousse yet?" Akane asked.  
  
"Nope, nothing at all," Ranma replied.  
  
"I hope he's alright."  
  
"I'm sure he is, I trained him, and he'll contact as soon as he has something to tell us. The only way he couldn't is if he's dead, and I HIGHLY doubt that! The only other reason is that he might be afraid to tell us the results. Well, more like embarrassed."  
  
"Speaking of fear.I'm not sure I even asked why you're afraid of thunder storms at night."  
  
"I'm not sure.well, actually, strange I just remembered. I practically tried forcing myself to forget.I'm not sure if I wanna."  
  
"I've heard it helps to just let it all out."  
  
"Okay.I was pretty young, about eight years old. Me and my old man were of course out training. I was already afraid of thunderstorms, and one day there was this big tsunami, so he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to send my head first to face my fears."  
  
"But it had the opposite effect, I take it?"  
  
"Obviously! But that's not the end of it! I was hit with hail stones, got bruised all over from them. A bolt of lightning came so close it burned my arm, and there was also a tornado that my dad would've thrown me into if he could get close enough, and he almost did! Fortunately, it was only an F1, but it was still pretty bad. It only served to scare the crap out of me, though, and I've been dead afraid of thunder storms at night ever since. I guess my old man either gave up or just didn't notice anything."  
  
"I don't think 'facing your fears to overcome them' works that well when you're eight years old."  
  
"You should've been there to tell that to him, although I doubt he would've listened."  
  
"So, moving on, do you like Ayumi Hamasaki?"  
  
"You mean her music?"  
  
"Of course I mean her music!"  
  
"Yeah, sure. She's one of my favorites, actually."  
  
"Mine too."  
  
"Nabiki does her research, doesn't she?"  
  
"Of course she does, otherwise she wouldn't be Nabiki."  
  
"I suppose there are some benefits to having a snoopy sister. Sometimes I wish that I weren't an only child.and sometimes I'm glad, of course."  
  
"I'm sure our parents are paying her quite well for this, though."  
  
"Oh. that goes without saying!"  
  
The continued to chat about a few other things before they finished their meals. Ranma gave his compliments to the chef before they both went to sleep. Well, actually Ranma stayed up awhile longer to write in his journal.  
  
July 19th, 2003: Well, Akane can DEFINITELY cook now, so that's finally resolved. Now we only need to resolve Ryouga maybe, and hope that Mousse can get through to Shampoo somehow. Really, it's just a lot of waiting and hoping for the best. Next week will probably be a lot more exciting than this one, maybe then we'll hear something, and there's also the concert and Akane's wedding dress and kimonos, although that doesn't involve me, it's still something that will be going on. Oh, and I finally remembered the thing that made me so afraid of thunder storms! Still, I don't think I'm any less scared.  
  
Author's Conclusion: Sorry about the wait, and the fact that it took this long just to write a fairly short chapter. I'm probably going to at least get a start on Chapter 23, because I'm really excited about getting to Chapter 24, and even beyond that, so I hope I can catch up on all the stuff I've been putting off. 


	23. Entry 23

Author's Intro: Since I have no reviews to comment on this time, I'm going to do a simple introduction. I just want to say that this chapter is going to, perhaps even more so than the last chapter, focus on the journal entries, and even those will be a bit short, since I'm sort of short on time right now, plus I can't really think of any way right now to make them longer. I'm not sure which format next week will be in, but it is going to have a major event, so it's probably going to be involving a bit more 3rd person stuff.  
  
July 22nd, 2003:  
  
The perfect wedding dress:  
  
Akane choose Kasumi to go along with her to pick out her dress and kimonos for the wedding, and she thought it was a fairly wise decision. Ranma, of course, couldn't go, and Nabiki isn't exactly into that kind of thing, so Kasumi was the obvious choice. She was also her eldest sister, and the most mother-like.  
  
"Do you think me and Ranma would be good together?" Akane asked.  
  
"Well, it depends on what you think." Kasumi replied.  
  
"If I had the slightest clue I wouldn't be asking you."  
  
"Well you have to figure it out yourself, because I can't tell you."  
  
"Great, I just hate not knowing anything.and my own feelings, to boot. I know I'm not dreading the wedding, but that's not enough! I want to be sure I'm actually in love with this guy, I want to know for sure, beyond a doubt, no question about it, but it's like something's holding me back."  
  
"You'll know when you're ready to know, I'm sure."  
  
"I just hope I'll be ready to know before the wedding, or at least the honeymoon."  
  
"How about this one?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"This dress."  
  
"Maybe.but let me have a look at that one over there."  
  
July 22nd, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Well, the whole dress and kimono choosing thing is over, at least, but now with the wedding lingering closer and closer I keep on fearing that it might end up being all wrong, that although we can get along, we really can't have any kind of romance or love or anything. I want to know for sure that I'd want to spend the rest of my life with him, to have and to hold and all that crap. Is that too much to ask? Anyway, the concert is on Thursday, so I'll write about it on Friday. Until then, there isn't much else to say, just no word from Mousse still, and it's making me more and more nervous. All this stuff going on is just stressing me out!! Maybe I'll go down to the dojo and get a little practice in, maybe that'll vent some of it.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 23rd, 2003: Tomorrow's the concert, and Akane's already picked everything out for the wedding, so we're all set for that. I also saw Ryouga today, after he seemed to be not wanting to ruin the wedding again, I asked if he'd want to be my best man. I mean, I don't really have too many people I know well enough for the role. And he'd be the best man just for not taking it beyond Dance Dance Revolution. He agreed to it, anyway, I gave him some money to go buy a suite (the money coming from Soun and my old man, of course). I think that Akane convinced Ukyo to be the maid of honor, since she helped her learn how to cook. The whole thing really set Ukyo's mind at ease about the whole wedding thing. She's also making the cake and doing the whole catering thing which is saving us a bit of money (although she isn't doing the WHOLE thing for free, it is at a discount rate, to say the least). The only thing that worries me now, and Akane even more so, is that I haven't heard anything at all from Mousse. Maybe he's just assuming we'll know he won, or maybe he's "busy" with Shampoo (if you know what I mean).  
  
July 25th, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
The concert was great, and a lot of fun, although I didn't get much of a chance to talk to Ranma since the music was so loud. It was just a fun thing for us to do together. We also got a backstage pass, and got a bunch of stuff signed by Ayumi. That was so cool! There really isn't much more to say about it, the lighting and stage setup was great, the music was of course wonderful, and it was just nice having Ranma there, because it was just sharing the moment, you know. Of course, don't assume that I'm any closer to figuring out, well, too much closer to figuring out how I feel about Ranma. Still, it was fun, and I think that counts for something, don't you?  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
July 26th, 2003: Well, the concert was good, we got a backstage pass so we could actually meet Ayumi in person (Nabiki is so incredibly resourceful!). We got a lot of CDs, memorabilia, posters and stuff, signed by her. If we sold all of it, we'd be rice, except it all has sentimental value, which is far greater than what we could sell it all for on E-Bay. In any case, the wedding is about two weeks away already, I hardly noticed that, and I'm beginning to wonder if we should actually go through with it. I mean, I don't know exactly what I feel for Akane right now.and I guess I haven't been really noticing my lack of attention to these feelings until now, or even what the feelings are in the first place. Maybe I should try sorting them out, but I have no idea where to start. Maybe something needs to happen before I can actually know for sure how I feel. I don't know what it would be, but I just have a hunch about it, or something.  
  
Author's conclusion: Yeah, I know, I've not only delayed these two chapters, but I also had the nerve to make them short. Maybe I'm just rushing to Chapter 24, but I've tried to put enough content into these two chapters as I could come up with, although who knows? I might come up with something more to add to these once I go back through and start making what I hope will be the final update for the story. Well, I hope you enjoyed these chapters, anyway, and trust me things are about to get really exciting. ^_- 


	24. Entry 24

TetsuoTsubushi: Now it's all set so bring out chapter 24. I hope it isn't a let down. You've brought it up so many times now.  
  
Mary: Now you've got me all excited about ch. 24! How many chapters were you planning on making this? I hope they figure out their feelings soon. :(  
  
Butterfly:  
  
(21):Nice one. And longer than some of the previous ones, which is good. Lol. But you shouldn't really listen to people telling you what length a chapter should be, I mean, it's your decision and whatever you choose must be accepted. The only problem is that sometimes a chapter seems very long and then there's just a lot of responses... Oh, well, never mind. One more thing, I'd expect a little more about their own feelings in the diary entries. You had that in the early entries, but now it's more or less a description of their day. I can accept that on Ranma's part, but Akane is usually a bit "deeper", isn't she?  
  
Response: Yeah, and I've kinda ditched the whole "issue" response system because I feel I'm taking longer trying to just make the section smaller than making the chapter part longer. And as for the emotions, well they come out in the next two chapters.  
  
(22): Uhm. As much as I think it's really good, there are a few thing that bothered me in this chapter. But first an apology: this time the entries seemed more like real ones to me, so you can ignore the previous coment. ^_^ One thing that bothered me though is the fact that Ranma didn't comment on Akane's cooking while they had dinner. I mean he should at least have said it was good, or ok, or anything... Don't you think? After all the stomach ache she gave him in the past and after all the effort she put into it, I don't expect them NOT to talk about it at all. Another thing is the fear of storms thing. Remembering it just then? How convenient... And a tsunami is a giant wave caused by an earthquake, not a storm or tornado. You should really change that.  
  
Response: Okay.I watched some show once that said a Tsunami was a Japanese term for a Hurricane. I could research on the net to be sure, and I'll change it if I'm wrong.  
  
Tsunami: tidal wave  
  
That's just great!  
  
(Checks English to Jappanese)  
  
hurricane: shippuu, harike-n, gufuu  
  
(Checks Jap-Eng again on each)  
  
I do this for a reason, which you'll see bellow:  
  
shippuu: squall, gale, hurricane  
  
harike-n: hurricane  
  
gufuu: tornado, hurricane, typhoon  
  
Okay, so it was a huge harike-n! Which sounds enough like the English word that I might as well just have it translated! Also calling it a shippuu or gufuu would just sound plain weird.  
  
()  
  
And yeah, it's a triggered flashback, and why didn't he remember it before, because the writer hadn't come up with anything until now. lol. He does compliment her after the meal, but never during. The reason for this is that he probably wants to make sure that everything that Akane cooked was safe before saying anything about it at all. Therefore, he wanted to finish the meal before he gave compliments, just so he wouldn't make a compliment followed by an insult on a different portion of the meal that wasn't cooked quite right. That's my excuse, anyway.  
  
Butterfly: (23)NOt that short. One question: doesn' Ranma need to buy some clothes for the wedding too? Or has he already? That's all I wondered about this time. ~_^  
  
Response: If you look back, and I'm pretty sure I copied this from my written draft to the chapter, although I could've just as easily forgotten, I suppose.that the suite his father got him for the Senior Dance was supposed to double as his wedding tux. I'm pretty sure I wrote something 'cause I remember typing up how Ranma thought that there might be a better one, but he wouldn't know because he didn't go to actually pick one out. Or maybe I spent so much time on that thing that I forgot to mention the "double use" part. That's the reason it was bought instead of rented, though.  
  
Jennyjennai: Very good reading these last 5 or so chapters (sorry, I got really lazy by not reviewing each individual chapter), everything seems to be "chugging" along nicely. The plot seems to be moving smoothly to the inevitable conclusion. I like the diary/journal entries as these tend to show how the characters are feeling in depth as opposed to how they let the other characters see their emotional state. I'll try to review each chapter individually if I don't get too lazy about it. Anyway, keep up the good work.  
  
Response: This is mainly positive criticism, but it is constructive, which is the way I like it. Positive or negative, criticism is best when it points out what is right and/or wrong about the story.  
  
Now, the moment we've all been waiting for! Duh-duh-duh-duh! CHAPTER TWENTY- FOUR!! YAY!!  
  
Warning: This chapter contains a small spoiler for Terminator 3, so I hope you all have already seen the movie or don't really care if it's spoiled for you.  
  
July 29th, 2003:  
  
Dear Dairy,  
  
The wedding is going to happen in about two weeks from now, and yeah feelings still confused, unbalanced, you know, the usual. STILL nothing back from Mousse, adding even more to the stress and unease I'm feeling. On Thursday, a big date, apparently, dinner, movie, and a small two-person dance after at the end at home. It was Ranma's idea, based on the idea of "going all-out" with the whole dating thing. We've already got the wedding pretty much planned, which will make it all the harder if we for some reason decide to call it off. Of all the times, they have to do it so close to what would otherwise be considered the point-of-no-return. Maybe this upcoming date will help somehow. I just have a feeling about it, kinda like with the dance. I was right then, and I might just be right again.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
That night-Another Storm:  
  
"Ranma, I thought you figured out what your fear was all about." Akane said.  
  
"Th-that's supposed to make me less scared?!" Ranma replied.  
  
"Ranma, you've got to get over this! You can't be afraid of storms anymore!"  
  
"I-I'm not going to go see a fr-freakin' therapist!"  
  
"Next time there's a storm, you're just going to have to do without clinging, then."  
  
"Wh-why?!"  
  
"Because you're becoming too dependant on it. You need to learn how to not be scared of storm by yourself."  
  
"I d-don't think I c-can!"  
  
"Then I guess you're a wimp."  
  
"D-don't c-call me that!"  
  
"Why? Because it always works?"  
  
"Y-yeah!"  
  
"It's for your own good! You have to deal with this!"  
  
"I g-guess."  
  
"Well then, goodnight Ranma."  
  
"G-goodnight, Akane."  
  
July 30th, 2003: Tomorrow's a big date, the real BIG one. Dinner, a movie, and dance at home. I've got some of both Akane and I's favorite CDs in the stereo for tonight, and everyone else will be sleeping (and the rooms are a reasonable distance away from where we'll be dancing. I'm hoping that something's going to happen during that date, because the wedding's only less than two weeks away now. Also, yeah, Mousse is still not sending us any info on what's going on. The quiet on that front is getting now to even me, while before it was really just Akane. It's the last thing that really has to be resolved before the wedding, and it's still up in the air. Oh well, I have bigger things to worry about, like whether or not I really want to spend the rest of my life with that "uncute tomboy".  
  
July 31st, 2003:  
  
The BIG Date:  
  
[Dinner]  
  
"Well, here we are again, having dinner." Ranma said.  
  
"But this time at Ukyo's." Akane replied.  
  
"Yeah, well, I figured it'd be a nice change from those fancier ones." Ranma commented.  
  
"It's nice."  
  
"So, do you think Terminator 3 will be better or worse than T2?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Well, from the reviews I've heard it's at least a halfway decent film." Akane replied.  
  
"It'll be good to know what happens, anyway."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They eat for awhile, then continue.  
  
"You know, I'm starting to actually get worried about Mousse." Ranma said.  
  
"You're still not near as worried as I am, I've more time to build it up."  
  
"So now it's about who's more worried? Do you have to make everything into a contest, Akane?"  
  
"Not everything, just most things."  
  
"Still.I wonder if we should try checking up on him or something." Ranma said.  
  
"I don't know how we'd do that, it's not like we can just knock on Shampoo's door and ask her if Mousse beat her. If he didn't, then maybe he hasn't gotten to it yet and we would've just tipped her off on his plans."  
  
"I don't think he would've put it off this long.but it's a possibility, and a risk I'm not sure that's worth taking."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They go back to eating, then go back to talking again.  
  
"Do you like the way I have the dance set up?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Very clever, putting it in the Dojo. Nice decorations, too, and the stereo set-up is pretty good. Did Nabiki rent all the equipment?"  
  
"Well, she borrowed it from someone she knows, at least 'borrowed' is what she says. Then again, it'd be awfully hard to steal without someone noticing."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I've just noticed that every part of our conversation ends with you saying yeah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They eventually finish eating and head off to the movie.  
  
[After the Movie]  
  
On their way back home.  
  
"The ending was rather.depressing." Akane commented.  
  
"So much for the whole 'only destiny is what we make for ourselves' bit from T2." Ranma added.  
  
"I'd say I liked it better than T1, but it wasn't as good as T2."  
  
"Same here. Well, we're home."  
  
[Time to Dance]  
  
"It's storming again." Akane noticed.  
  
"Great.well, at least we're dancing, that'll di-distract my attention sl- slightly."  
  
"Ranma, remember what I said."  
  
"Could we not talk about that right now?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
They just danced, and in a few minutes they were in the same place they were at the dance, but this time the music kept going. Their eyes locked on each other, and there was nothing else, just two eyes floating around to the rhythm of some tune playing far away. The eyes kept getting closer and closer, and yet even closer, then the eyes closed as their lips met. Time had been decreasing gradually up to that moment, and then it came to a sudden halt, a moment frozen in time, a moment that seemed to last forever, yet forever wasn't nearly long enough. If it weren't for the necessity of oxygen, forever would've been a lot longer. The eyes opened, and the lips, still invisible, moved away. Then the rest of the world came rushing back to them, and they just stood there, bewildered by what had just transpired.  
  
The music was still playing in the background.  
  
"Uh.wow!" Ranma said, finding no better descriptive word.  
  
"That was.who started it?"  
  
"I.I though you did."  
  
"I thought it was you."  
  
Ranma looked quickly at the clock, it was getting pretty late.  
  
"I think we need to get to sleep." He said.  
  
"Yeah, I'll get the cold water."  
  
"Okay."  
  
[Another Storm]  
  
"No clinging!"  
  
Akane pushed Ranma off her.  
  
"I can't help it!"  
  
"That's what you think! You can do this, you've been in a storm alone before without me to cling on!"  
  
"But I'd usually cling to a blanket."  
  
"Well, that obviously wouldn't work so good here." Akane said.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But still, you have to overcome your fear. You don't want me to call you a wimp again, do you?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Well then, stop clinging to me like a baby!"  
  
"I'll try."  
  
But Ranma kept on looking at Akane, longing to cling to her, for comfort, for many reasons. Some reasons (s)he couldn't begin to comprehend. The more he looked at her, with eyes still open, waiting for Ranma to fall asleep, the more the need grew, until (s)he couldn't fight it any more, and clung tightly to Akane, then.their lips met once again.  
  
[The Next Morning]  
  
Ranma woke up to the sound of something being dropped. As (s)he woke up, she felt like something was different, something was.missing.  
  
Then (s)he realized she wasn't wearing any clothes, then she realized that Akane was sleeping right next to (her) and was also just as naked. Then (s)he remembered just what happened the previous night, then she noticed that the dropping sound was a very stunned Kasumi bringing in some clothes to put away.  
  
"Hey, it's not the way it seems!!" Ranma said desperately, then, after some thought, continued, "Well, obviously it is what it seems."  
  
Akane stirred, and woke up, going through a very similar process of revelations to what Ranma had.  
  
"Ranma! We didn't.? KASUMI!!"  
  
"I.I think I'll put these away later." Kasumi said, picking them up carefully then slowly backing out through the door and closing it.  
  
For a few minutes, both Ranma and Akane were completely silent.  
  
"I can't believe we did that!" Ranma said, the panic obvious in (her) voice.  
  
"I."  
  
"What the hell came over me! And as a girl, that's even worse!"  
  
Ranma got up and grabbed a robe from the closet, put it on and tossed another one to Akane.  
  
"Do you regret it?"  
  
"Of course I.I don't know." Ranma said.  
  
"Maybe." Akane said, "Maybe we aren't ready."  
  
Then Ranma remembered what day it was: August 1st. Akane's words somehow found a way to pierce into his soul. He couldn't bear to look at Akane's face anymore, so he opened the door and left. He saw EVERYONE standing in the hallway just outside.  
  
"I think the wedding's off."  
  
To be continued. 


	25. Entry 25

Light02: *jaw drops* holy crap...so that's what you were planing. I and didn't think that Ranma had the courage or the balls to make a move like that.  
  
Response: It was purely consensual for both parties, I'll say that much.  
  
Arcia: Oh...boy...rnThat is bad...very bad bad bad... Keep goin this is getting interesting.  
  
Response: Oh, I will.  
  
Dogbertcarroll:  
  
(22) Great chapter. I can see one problem with Ranma training Mousse. Ranma seems to have it hardwired into his brain that hitting women even in self- defense during a battle is wrong. What if it carries over onto Mousse? *grin* I liked the interaction between Ranma and Akane it was dead on. A little confrontational as always but mostly controlled by the both of them. The backstory covering Ranmas fear of storms was perfect. It fit beautifully. Great chapter. OK enough ego inflation for now see you in the next chapter review. *wave*  
  
Response: Nah.Mousse doesn't get the whole non-woman-hitting thing. Although that would've been certainly funny.  
  
(23) Blah. Re-covers ground already covered. I'm sure its useful to the story but a chapter of tracing the same old thing with nothing new added is dull. You should have had something else completely unrelated to the current story as well. Some challenger or monster would have been perfect. Remember Ranma is suppose to attract chaos. A small but humors problem unrelated to the storyline for comic effect would have been perfect.  
  
Response: I kinda resent the idea of weird monsters and crazy "chaotic" stuff in what is otherwise supposed to be a essentially a romantic and dramatic comedy story. That plus I'm working up a silence before the storm, so to speak.  
  
TetsuoTsubushi:  
  
Ah the weddings off and what? Did they have sex as girls? How did that come into play? Will the wedding ever be back on?  
  
Response: All will be answered during this chapter.  
  
Jwjester:  
  
This was a good Idea, but has turned into something completely ungodly. I understand that fanfiction writers like to put their own spin on charaters, and most have compelling situations why the characters are ooc. I haven't seen that at all in this story. From what I have read of your comments that you have only seen very little Ranma, and have read even less. It seems to me you are basing your charactarization on the fanfics you have read. I hope that you do complete this story because so few writers do that currently. But please try to learn more about the characters and maybe take sometime to reread your story and make it better.  
  
Response: There is a balance that I'm going to maintain no matter what, between plot and character accuracy. Yes, a lot of what I've done is based on fan fiction I've read, and on the first season of the series. Still, there is the story I wish to tell, the characters are a part of it, and I'd like them to be as close as possible to the ones in the series and Mangas, but there are certain events, character developments, etc. that simply cannot be applied because the plot has to go a certain way. Still, after I finish, I plan on reading the entire manga series from start to finish, then perhaps re-reading my fan fiction from start to finish to spot places where I can make changes without affecting the plot. Until that time, I'm trying my best to stay true to what I know about the characters, and I'm definitely staying on target with the plot structure I've developed.  
  
Now onto the highly anticipated conclusion:  
  
"You can sleep in your own bed tonight.I hope for your sake, that you don't wake up as broken as I am." - "A Good Night's Sleep", The Starting Line.  
  
August 1st, 2003:  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Why am I even bothering writing in this stupid diary, I have no idea what the hell I'm feeling right now. Ranma left, that's the only update I have to give.  
  
Sincerely, Akane Tendo  
  
August 2nd, 2003:  
  
There was a knock on the door of the Tendo household. Nabiki answered the door.  
  
It was Mousse.  
  
"Excuse me, I'd like to speak with Ranma." He said.  
  
"He isn't here." Nabiki replied.  
  
"Is he out with Akane?"  
  
"Nope, they've called off the wedding, and Ranma left. He forgot his things, though.and his father."  
  
"Where do you think I can find him?"  
  
"He could be anywhere, he's probably staying at all a hotel somewhere. He might be at Ukyo's, although since she was involved with the wedding. I'm not sure he'd really want to talk to anyone, but he's Ranma, so who knows?"  
  
"Well, thanks anyway."  
  
"No problem."  
  
Nabiki closed the door.  
  
"Who was that?" Akane asked, just coming in the room.  
  
"Mousse, he was asking for Ranma."  
  
"And you didn't let him in!! Oh yeah.it doesn't matter anymore, anyway."  
  
Latter that day.  
  
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Ukyo yelled at Ranma, "After all this, having to convince me and just about everyone else in Nermia that you guys were getting married and there's nothing they can do to stop it, you're calling it off?!"  
  
"We both called it off.well, I announced it, and I kinda assumed."  
  
"Do you know what they say about assuming?!"  
  
"That's an old and very stale joke, and yeah, I've heard it."  
  
"Well that makes you a complete and total dumbass, then!"  
  
"So, what else is new?"  
  
"What exactly led up to this, anyway?!"  
  
"It's a very long and confusing story, involving some X-rated scenes."  
  
"You mean you-?"  
  
"Yeah, but what's worse was that I was a girl at the time."  
  
"YOU MEAN YOU-?!"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"HOLY CRAP!" Ukyo said, astonished, "I had no idea that Akane was even into that kinda thing.who exactly started it?"  
  
"Well, I kinda did.she started the whole.WHY THE HELL AM I GIVING YOU DETAILS?!!"  
  
"Ranma, you ARE here! Thank goodness!" a familiar-sounding voice said.  
  
"Mousse?!" Ranma said.  
  
"Who else would I be?"  
  
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU KEEP IN CONTACT?!"  
  
"He's a little touchy right now." Ukyo pointed out.  
  
"I apologize, it's just taken me awhile to get things worked out with the tribe. It takes quite a lot of work to get a marriage undone."  
  
"You mean?"  
  
"Well, I managed to defeat Shampoo, but there's still you, and the fact that I am an Amazon myself. But I did manage to convince Shampoo to give up on trying to marry you."  
  
"I'm sorry, it looks like all that work was for nothing."  
  
"What exactly happened?"  
  
"He got it on with Akane in his girl form." Ukyo explained.  
  
"UKYO!" Ranma shouted.  
  
"And because of that the wedding is being called off?" Mousse asked.  
  
"Well, I don't know.we both went kinda crazy that night. There was a storm, and I'm kinda afraid of them, at night anyway, and she was trying to help me get over my fear by establishing a 'no-cling' thing."  
  
"No-cling?" Ukyo asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"I tend to cling onto something, usually a blanket, but with Akane there I clung onto her."  
  
"You're been sharing a bed with Akane AND this is the first time you've had any kind of sex with her?!" Ukyo said, a little skeptical.  
  
"Uh, yeah." Ranma replied, "But I've always clung onto her for comfort during those storms, but she decided not to let me do it that time. We'd already kissed during the date we just had, and I guess we just let things get to physical or something. I clung onto her, ended up kissing her, and things went off from there."  
  
"If you've managed to put it off that long, I'd say it was love that made you do it." Ukyo said.  
  
"BUT I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS IN LOVE! I mean, how could I be in love and not know it?!"  
  
"Who says you have to KNOW it? It can be there right under your nose, and you wont know what it is, but you know it's there."  
  
"How do you know so much, have you ever been in love?"  
  
"No, but I've known a few people who have been. And considering all that I've heard about it, I know for sure is that you must be in love with her."  
  
"Well, if you're so sure, PROVE IT!"  
  
"How can you expect her to-?" Mousse started to ask.  
  
"With a few questions: How do you feel about this whole situation?"  
  
"Like crap."  
  
"What would you do if you found out that Akane died of grief?"  
  
"Probably kill myself."  
  
"Would you like your life better if Akane weren't in it, not taking into account how much this situation is causing you grief. In other words, would you trade all the moments you had with her for something else?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Do you think I need to ask you anymore question to convince you that you're in love with Akane?"  
  
"Well."  
  
"I'm rather convinced. I'd answer the questions the same way about Shampoo." Mousse said.  
  
"I don't believe this! I just left the one girl I have the greatest feelings for, the girl that I.that I."  
  
"Don't strain yourself, save it for when you go see Akane and say it to her yourself."  
  
"But."  
  
"No buts, except for your butt getting out of here and going to tell Akane how much you love her!"  
  
About an hour later, back at the Tendos:  
  
Akane heard a knock on her door.  
  
"Who is it?" She asked.  
  
"Just a doctor who wants to aid one of his favorite patients."  
  
"Dr. Tofu?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Come in, please!"  
  
Dr. Tofu was happy to oblige, he came in and sat down next to Akane.  
  
"I heard that you called off the wedding." Tofu said.  
  
"Well, Ranma is the one who did, really. I just kinda implied it."  
  
"Implied?"  
  
"Well I guess I did because that's how he seemed to interpret it!"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"They didn't already tell you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well.the night before last night Ranma and I.well.he was a girl at the time.but we, you know."  
  
"No, I don't know."  
  
"We did it!"  
  
"Did what?"  
  
"We had sex!"  
  
"Oh.and you both were girls?"  
  
"Yeah, I said that."  
  
"Just confirming."  
  
"Well, Ranma kinda went nuts about it, and I got a little angry because, I don't know."  
  
"You thought he didn't do what he, or perhaps I should say she did for love?"  
  
"Well, maybe that might've been part of it, but I'm not sure I did it for love, either. We kinda just got.caught up in the moment."  
  
"Do you love Ranma?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Then why did you do what you did? I know for a fact that you aren't the kind of girl that would do something like that without a good reason."  
  
"Then maybe I was."  
  
"You aren't now?"  
  
"Well if Ranma doesn't love me than why should I love him?"  
  
"How do you know he doesn't love you? I know him pretty well too, maybe not as well as you, but I'd say the same thing. He wouldn't do that without a good reason, either."  
  
"But he's never told me."  
  
"Maybe he never knew, or never knew how to express it."  
  
"Maybe I never knew how to express it."  
  
There was another knock on the door.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"It's me.Ranma."  
  
"Come in!" Dr. Tofu said.  
  
"Dr. Tofu?" Ranma asked, surprised.  
  
He opened the door, and sure enough, it was him.  
  
"I was just leaving." Tofu said.  
  
"But-" Akane pouted.  
  
"I'll see you at the wedding."  
  
After saying that, he left.  
  
"Does he still think?" Ranma asked.  
  
"We were just talking." Akane explained, "And I guess he thinks there's still a chance for us."  
  
"Well, he might be right.uh.I want to tell you something, Akane."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I-I-I.well, you see I-lu-lu-luuuuhhhh."  
  
"Love me?" Akane asked.  
  
"No, let me say, let me say it! I luuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.ah screw it, read this song I wrote before I headed here. It's kinda rough, and I didn't really want to have to use it for that reason. But it's better than nothing. Better than not being able to say it out loud."  
  
He handed her a piece of notebook paper that he took out of his pocket. She unfolded it and read:  
  
"A Girl Named Akane"  
  
By Ranma Saotome  
  
Verse 1:  
  
I remember the time that we first met  
  
It wasn't very pretty  
  
But I know I'll never forget  
  
At first you didn't know I was a guy  
  
When you found out  
  
You hated me  
  
I didn't know why  
  
Then it turned out our parents  
  
Set us up together  
  
They wanted us married  
  
And we both said "NEVER!"  
  
So all I did was call you  
  
An uncute tomboy  
  
You thought I was a pervert  
  
And a jerk, that brought me no joy  
  
We never were able to really get along  
  
But that is what inspired me to write this song  
  
Chorus:  
  
About the way I met a girl named Akane  
  
She always seemed to just rub me the wrong way  
  
Our relationship was just one big fray  
  
Involving all the cruel games on each other we'd play  
  
But right now there's only one thing I've got to say  
  
I think I fell in love with her today  
  
Verse 2:  
  
Then two years and two more fiancés later  
  
Hard to believe we were still in the same house together  
  
One day her sister found my journal  
  
And our parents made the engagement official  
  
Things got really fast when we went to the dance  
  
There was a chance there could be some romance  
  
But thought we had a nice and lovely evening  
  
The next morning I was on the floor and bleeding  
  
But somehow we finally managed to get along  
  
And that's another reason why I wrote this song  
  
Chorus (2):  
  
About the way I met a girl named Akane  
  
She always seemed to just rub me the wrong way  
  
Our relationship was just one big fray  
  
Involving all the cruel games on each other we'd play  
  
But right now there's only one thing I've got to say  
  
I'm sure I fell in love with her today  
  
Bridge:  
  
One night we just got a little crazy  
  
The next morning we broke up  
  
And I was surprised how much it scared me  
  
Only when I didn't have you could I see  
  
Just how much you really meant to me  
  
Now I know that I want us to be together  
  
Forever  
  
For worse or better  
  
No matter what the weather  
  
And since trying to tell you might take too long  
  
Well, that's the main reason why I wrote this song  
  
Chorus (3):  
  
About the way I met a girl named Akane  
  
She always seemed to just rub me the wrong way  
  
Our relationship was just one big fray  
  
Involving all the cruel games on each other we'd play  
  
But right now there's only one thing I've got to say  
  
I'm think I  
  
I'm sure I  
  
I know I fell in love with her today  
  
That was the end of the poem.  
  
"I think you've been listening to a wee bit too much punk rock, but it's pretty good. Besides, I kinda like punk rock anyway." Akane said.  
  
"But what about."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"I guess I should be leaping for joy now."  
  
"But that just isn't your style."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
August 2nd, 2003: Today I figured out something very important, something that I should've known all along. I've been in love with Akane for I'm not sure how long, but I know it's been awhile. Now I KNOW it, and someone did have to tell me, that person happened to be Ukyo. The girl who for the longest time wanted me and Akane to have nothing to do with each other ends up being the girl who helps me realize that I was meant for Akane and vice versa. I just think she wanted me to be happy or something, after all we're still friends, and that's something good. The wedding's back on, and technically it hadn't actually been canceled. It's not that our parents believed that everything would work itself out, and it's not like they hadn't gotten to it (although that was part of the reason), it's just that they were in such a state of shock about what happened that they couldn't really do anything. They're still in shock (about the whole having sex as girls thing), but they are apparently glad the wedding's back on, and frankly, both myself and Akane couldn't be happier. I also wrote Akane my first love song, in punk-rock style, in fact. So now we're heading into the whole wedding situation with no regrets, except for maybe not realizing our feelings sooner.  
  
Author's Conclusion: Well, yeah, it's resolved in one chapter, but a chapter that's nine pages in length-not including the reviews that I haven't added in yet. I'm going to wait awhile to see if I can include a few more reviews today, but really this still is going to be considered my longest chapter to date. Plus, I felt that since my idea was that they had the feelings for each other all along, a simple matter like realizing them should be rather simple, at least after all this time of trying to figure it out before. 


	26. Entry 26

TetsuoTsubushi: It was a good resolution to everything. I liked the song by the way, but what now?  
  
Response: That's exactly what I'm asking myself right now. How do I make the rest of the story interesting with everything resolved like this? lol. But there's still Shampoo (who I owe a diary entry) and Ukyo (who I also owe a diary entry) and Ryouga (who, I don't know…he's the best man now, but I might do another journal entry), and of course I have a few hijinx planned for the wedding ceremony. ^_-  
  
Yeah, and I wrote the lyrics myself with a little inspiration from Blink 182. lol. I actually wrote it long before I wrote the chapter itself, and I was quite anxious to finally be able to put it in the story.  
  
Dogbertcarroll:  
  
(24)I know it's standard in all Anime series that no one remembers what they did the night before for the first few minutes upon waking but that's never set well with me. Unless large amounts of alcohol were involved I know exactly where I am and what I've done when I open my eyes in the morning. My brain doesn't need time to boot up. Unless active thinking is required. Then I need some coffee and a couple of minutes. *grin*  
  
Response: Well, it adds a little to the shock value of everything that happens. It's a dramatic tool, I'll admit it.  
  
I don't get the wedding being off part. Ranma turns into a girl half the time so they need to get used to it anyway. *shrug* They didn't seem that upset except for everyone finding out. Not to mention Akane was a bit harsh to him about his fear of storms.  
  
Response: Akane's upset because she's ashamed of what happened, Ranma's upset for a similar reason, in fact he's probably more ashamed than Akane because they were both girls when it happened. So basically, they're both freaking out because they didn't expect something like that to happen. And as far as Akane being too hard on him, she just wants Ranma to not be afraid anymore, she's concerned about his fear and knows that Ranma doesn't want to be afraid anymore, and of course that she needs to push him in order to get rid of that fear. It's also a plot device by which to get them into the "situation".  
  
(25)Pat yourself on the back. You deserve it for this chapter. Everyone was dead on and the dialog was great. You covered everything that was important.  
  
Response: Yeah, I actually wrote this chapter right after chapter 24, but didn't put it up right away since I obviously ended with a cliff-hanger. The next day I made some revisions that I had though of that night, which was really good because I had to make some very important changes in the dialog, and change the scene with Tofu and Akane to take place a bit after the scene with Ranma, Ukyo, and Mousse.  
  
The Night of Saturday, August 2nd:  
  
Ranma seemed rather fixated on the view of the thunderstorm through Akane's window.  
  
"Ranma, I told you before you…"  
  
"Do I look like I'm afraid anymore?"  
  
"Well…" Akane said, looking at Ranma and giving it some serious thought, "…actually, Ranma what are you doing?"  
  
"I'm watching the storm, what does it look like?"  
  
"Okay…" Akane said, obviously a bit confused.  
  
"It's just so…beautiful, I never noticed that before."  
  
"You were too busy being scared."  
  
"Yeah," Ranma said, "It's like ever since that night, I haven't been afraid. You know that storm last night? It was like I had never been scared of it at all, it's weird…"  
  
"So all you need was a little lovin'?" Akane asked.  
  
"Well…I guess…"  
  
"You're so cute when you blush like that." Akane commented.  
  
"Hey, just because I'm staying with this girl thing doesn't automatically give you permission to call me 'cute'!"  
  
"Sheesh, I was only trying to give you a compliment!"  
  
"Well, thank you then."  
  
"Why exactly do you want to be a girl when we're sleeping until we're married? I said I'd be comfortable with you as a guy, as long as we didn't DO anything. Or do you think the temptation is too great?"  
  
"No, it's just that…I could get, you know…"  
  
"Aroused?" Akane asked, "That isn't limited strictly to guys, as you should probably know by now."  
  
"You mean when...?"  
  
"Yeah, that was it."  
  
"Well, it isn't as uncomfortable, and I don't think it happens as easily…"  
  
"Well, as far as the comfort part goes I can't say I know, because I've never been a guy before."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"And how, do you think, would you end up getting aroused?"  
  
"Well…uh…sometimes it just happens, like in mornings…"  
  
"Aside from mornings."  
  
"Akane, well…I kinda thought you'd…you know, since for one I'm not afraid of storms anymore…"  
  
"Well, that'll make up for you not being a guy, then. Besides, there's a storm going on, I have to comfort you in case your fear suddenly returns. Still, it better not return or I'll be angry."  
  
"Thanks, Akane-chan." Ranma said, finally cuddling up to (her) fiancé.  
  
"Did you just call me-?" Akane asked.  
  
"I must've been blind all that time before."  
  
"Not a very convincing excuse, but it'll do just fine. Goodnight Ranma"  
  
"Goodnight, Akane-CHAAAAAAHHHHHNNNNN!!" Ranma said teasingly.  
  
Akane giggled softly before finally falling asleep.  
  
August 3rd, 2003:  
  
To: Diary  
  
Still hard to believe I letting them go through with marriage. Mousse strong, but me still think Ranma stronger. Suppose Mousse is strong enough, he Amazon but that fine, he like me, I like him, good chance he become husband. Few dates first, though. At least Ranma be happy somehow with crazy girl. Me steal her mallets, be sure she no hurt Ranma. Well hidden but me find them, some diaries there too, one Ranma's, I no look, though, put back where me found. Hope Ranma be happy, hope dates with Mousse go well.  
  
From: Shampoo  
  
Author's Conclusion: I hope the diary thing from Shampoo made up for the shortness of this chapter, I'm running out of computer time so I had to end it here. I'll be sure to update again tomorrow, though. ^_- 


End file.
